Huskar - All Random
by sasyst
Summary: Dota fanfiction: Huskar, the Sacred Warrior, starts in a town war and is suddenly labeled as support. In addition his carry is an arrogant bitch without cause. Needless to say, he is not amused.
1. Prolog

Dota

Huskar

All Pick

by Aditu

The town had two circles. An inner one, which was the safe zone, and an outer one, both surrounded by walls. In the outer circle was the heart of the town that held the town with all its buildings alive. It was guarded with two towers. Around the heart were several houses and barracks, all on higher ground than the area outside the town. The inner circle was only used by merchants and as regeneration point for the top soldiers, the heroes. The merchants sold mostly weapons and armour suited for everyone, who would fight for their home. And fighting they did.

They were in constant war with their neighbour town and had to defend themselves endlessly. So everyone, male or female, was trained to fight and then sent into battle. It was the only thing they could do, otherwise they would have nothing left. If the heart was destroyed, all buildings of the town would fall apart.

The main goal was to keep the heart of their town safe. And the second one was to attack the enemy, maybe even to destroy the heart of their town. But it was not easy. They had skilled fighters as well and it was an endless struggle, who would become victor of this war. You could not tell, who would win, because the two towns with their soldiers and heroes were equally strong. The balance of power always shifted a little. Depending on which hero was on the field and what items the heroes had been able to buy, the balance could shift with every fight. The heroes were hired from outside to support a town and its soldiers. Both towns were able to hire five heroes, whom they paid and who were resurrected inside of the safe zone with a delay, if they died in one of the fights.

At the present, both towns had still all their towers, in and around the high ground of the heart. There were three ways between the two towns and on each way were two towers of each party. And one more at the three entrances to the towns. If you wanted to destroy the heart you had to get the three towers and one way down and then the two in front of the heart. Five towers minimum. That was not easy to do, because they had some kind of self-defence system, which started firing, as soon as an enemy soldier got into range. Those shots hurt and could easily kill someone, if he or she wasn't strong enough.

Most times, two or three heroes would try to destroy a tower with some soldiers together, to divide the fire power between them all. That way everybody would get injured, but nobody would die. The problem here was, the enemy had soldiers as well, and heroes as strong. They had to kill them first, preferably not under the tower, but outside of its shooting range. Then they could destroy the building.

Well, it was not as easy as it sounded, obviously, since both towns still had all their towers.


	2. Chapter 1

Huskar appeared in the safe zone together with four other heroes. Their support was the Pugna, a skeleton mage with horns, glowing bright green from the inside. His lower jaw was missing and it looked as if the green glow was seeping out from where his mouth should have been. Their tank was a man in a dark hood, leaving his face in shadows, on a war horse. A single horn protruded from the dark mass under the hood and only his hands, visible when the sleeves of his cloak slipped away, indicated he might be dead rather than a living man. He wielded a sword in one hand, the other holding the reigns of his horse, which was no normal animal but consisted of blue light. It was covered with plate on the head, the neck and the rear. He was called the Lord of Avernus and was currently talking to the Pugna. They decided to go on a road together and started in the direction of first tower on the bottom road.

The Shadow Fiend, a demon from the abysm, would go onto the middle road. He was all black, with giant claws, horns and thorns on his shoulders, which loomed over his head. Well, they had three dead heroes in their team now. The fourth wasn't dead. And it was a woman. She would be paired with him on the top road. She was the Phantom Assassin, covered in light armour and black clothes, a helmet concealing her features, only leaving her mouth, nose and eyes visible. Together with her fingers that was the only skin that was showing. Her black hair was tied into a ponytail, which poked through the helmet at the top of her head. She had a double sword, with a handle in the middle of the two slightly curved blades. Without so much as a look in his direction she left the safe zone and headed to the top road, her cloak waving behind her.

Huskar was the last to take his place for the battle. He had taken his time to browse the wares of the merchant, who was sitting in the safe zone and selling items the heroes could use to gain an advantage in their battles. First, Huskar decided, something to heal in case he was attacked and then two gauntlets, which he would use to build an Urn of Shadows and which gave him more strength for the beginning. The Urn of Shadows provided him with higher mana regeneration and more strength, due to the gauntlets, and he would be able to heal himself or an allied hero over time with the essence of the Urn, under the condition it held some essence. It gathered this essence when an enemy hero died in its vicinity and stored it for later use, giving the Urn a charge for healing with each death. The essence of such a charge could also be used to deal damage to an enemy hero over time but that wasn't as common as the use for healing.

That done he followed the Phantom Assassin to the top road. He was itching for the fights to come. Ever since he had been woken from the sacred Nothl Realm and had escaped the Dezun Order and his home, he lived only for battles, though he did have a peaceful valley with a house that belonged to him. Sometimes this was the perfect place to be but others times he wanted to fight.

Here, in these town wars, he got enough fighting. He couldn't even die in the war he was participating now, because the town had some weird power to resurrect a dead hero inside of the safe zone. Of course dying would give the enemy not only more gold, because of the hero kill, but also much experience. And only because he was resurrected didn't mean he wouldn't feel the pain. Or how his body died. And even knowing you wouldn't stay dead, it was scary as hell to die. He would try to avoid it since he wanted to win this war between the two towns. He just hoped the Phantom Assassin was a good partner.

At the entrance of the town the first wave of soldiers started on their way to first tower, right behind Huskar. He grinned. The first battle would begin soon. At first tower the Phantom Assassin was waiting but again she didn't even glance in his direction but waited for the soldiers to pass her and then followed without acknowledging his existence. Huskar frowned. Was she really that arrogant? Or did she simply not care about her surroundings? Or maybe, since she was an assassin, she was so good, she didn't have to look at someone to see him. Nonetheless, it was kind of rude.

He followed and made is burning spear ready to throw it at the first enemy hero who appeared. At impact it made the target burn for a little while, additionally to the damage at impact, causing damage over time. It did drain Huskar's health to throw those burning spears, but the damage it did on the enemy heroes was worth a little lost health.

The first wave of enemy soldiers came into view and with them the two enemy heroes assigned to this road. One was a beast with four feet, like a horse or maybe more like a rhinoceros and two hands with which he held a spear. He had a giant horn on his nose, so the resemblance to a rhino was even greater but a pelt covered almost all of his body and two long braids were hanging on the sides of his head.

The other one was a flying gargoyle. He consisted only of blue light but was plated with stone on his head, his shoulders and parts of his wings like it was his armour. He was a ranged hero and he might be the one Huskar thought they should focus because he might be the easier one to kill. He would just start to harass him with his burning spears to keep him a little on distance. He was a ranged hero as well but the Phantom Assassin wasn't, so he would try to prevent them from focusing too much on her while she was fighting against the enemy soldiers. He hurled his burning spear at the gargoyle every time he came near enough, at the rhino a few times as well since he didn't want the beast to go unharmed, and then he tried to get a few last hits on the soldiers as well, since he wanted the extra money they got for the killing blows they made on an enemy.

That was when the Assassin addressed him for the first time, though she still didn't look at him, as if he was repugnant. "Stop taking my last hits you retard! I'm the carry and I need a support, not someone stealing my experience and gold!"

Huskar was momentarily perplexed, just staring at the woman. What was wrong with her? It wasn't as if he took all last hits on the soldiers and even if, he was a carry as well, only as good as the items he could buy. He needed the extra money they got from delivering the killing blow on an enemy creature as badly as the Assassin.

Not wanting to argue, he focused all the more on keeping the enemy heroes away from her. It wasn't that easy, because the rhino had a magic ability, which he could cast from a greater distance. It was a wave that speared through them, damaging everything on its way. And the damage wasn't insignificant.

He kept throwing his burning spears but it didn't really keep them at distance. When the gargoyle kept getting too near, the Phantom Assassin hurled a dagger at him that did damage and slowed him. Then she attacked him, spanning the distance between them with a jump that let her appear directly in front of him.

Not wanting to let her fight alone, Huskar joined the fight, going for the gargoyle though the rhino would have been nearer to him and casting his regeneration ability on the Assassin, so she would be able to heal some of the incoming damage. Suddenly, after only two hits, the Assassin turned and rushed into the woods, instantly vanishing under the trees. That left Huskar standing alone against the two enemy heroes. And not even trying to follow the Assassin, they immediately attacked him. He had not a fucking chance against them, especially since he had already used his ability to heal but had cast it on the Assassin and was left with nothing now but a burning spear, which drained his life witch each throw.

When he resurrected inside the safe zone he was still cursing. What the hell had that been? Going in and then leaving him to be slaughtered? Maybe she hadn't wanted for him to follow her. Maybe she'd had an exit strategy from the beginning on and had only wanted to harass the gargoyle. He would just stay back a little the next time and not follow her into a fight blindly.

Back at first tower the Assassin was standing under the building, relatively safe from attacks of the enemies. The soldiers were fighting just outside of the shooting range of the tower, the two enemy heroes right in the middle.

Huskar used his spear to attack them while trying to stay save and the Assassin threw her dagger from time to time to get the last hits on the soldiers and to harass the two heroes if they got too close.

The wave from the rhino was annoying, though, because no matter how passive he fought, it hit him a few times anyway. He finished his Urn of Shadows some time and let it be delivered by the delivery service of the merchant in town. It went on like that for a while, nothing very spectacular happening.

When they had pushed the enemy soldiers away from the tower, they followed their own forward. They still remained rather passive but Huskar could throw his spear and the Assassin her dagger, which was good enough.

The way up from the shallow river, which had been to their right, was now at their back. The river cut through their land and that of the enemy town and split the ground in a nearly straight line from their first tower on the top road to the enemy first tower on the bottom road, separating the two first towers on the middle road on its way. It was often used as the fastest way on foot from one road to the other. And that was the reason, why it was most unwise to have it at ones back. An attack to the flank or the back was always possible from there. But since they couldn't stay at the tower all the time they didn't have much of a choice.

Huskar saw movement at the edge of his field of vision, somewhere under the trees on his right side, and wanted to shout a warning at the Phantom Assassin. But it was too late. A missile was heading from out of the tress towards her and it was clear with its destination. She turned towards the tower but didn't get far before the bomb hit, stunning her additionally to dealing damage. The two enemy heroes reacted by charging forward, in the direction of the Assassin. But Huskar blocked their way, hurling his burning spear at every enemy he could reach, wanting to make all of them burn. They were still focused on the woman, though, and since she was stunned they got a few good hits on her. Huskar cast his ability to regenerate on her, so that she could heal some of the damage, because otherwise she would die of the incoming attacks. And just as she could move again a wave of soldiers appeared behind the tower and she used one of those units far away from the enemy as target to jump to it, out of the reach of danger. She got away with the move but had again left Huskar to die. Together with a man on a flying device a second missile, now heading for him, had appeared. And he was not fast enough to get away. He was dead as fast as the first time.

And he was cursing again when he resurrected in the safe zone. He just saw the Phantom Assassin leaving, heading for the top road again after she had regenerated in the safe zone. He was beginning to get really mad at the woman, though this time she really hadn't been able to do something. It had been the sensitive choice to escape rather than die together with him while trying to save him. But a "thank you" would have been nice, since he had saved her life after all. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down a bit. It hadn't been her fault that they had been surprised by a third enemy hero. Now they knew that they had started to get together in bigger teams to make it easier for them to kill so they had to be even more careful.

He bought boots, to be able to move a little faster, and followed the Assassin back to first tower. It went on like before, they fighting passively from a distance while the rhino cast his wave from time to time and the gargoyle tried to hit them when they left the safety of their tower. The man on the flying device had left. It was a nerve-racking battle, not improved by the disregard of the Assassin towards him, even when he healed her from time to time so she didn't have to be overly careful. Huskar gritted his teeth and concentrated on himself. Finally he was able to skill Life Break, an ability with which he could leap at a target, similar to the jump the Assassin could do. The difference was that he dealt damage to himself and the targeted hero on impact. The more health he was missing the more attack speed and magic resistance he gained, making it easy to kill the already hurt enemy, who gained nothing from his missing health but was in addition to it slowed by Huskar's leap. But it was a risk, intentionally sacrificing health, though he liked the feeling when his attack speed and magic resistance were heightened. He felt almost invincible then, his spears flying so fast one could only see a blurred line.

He kept his eyes open for an opportunity to get one of the enemy heroes, preferably when they were in shooting range of the tower to get even more damage and not standing close together so he wouldn't have to deal with both at the same time.

Then, when the Phantom Assassin threw her dagger, it made a critical hit and dealt more damage than a usual one. Huskar decided that was his opportunity and he leapt, targeting the gargoyle. At first it looked as if he would make it but then the rhino attacked him. Huskar had the ability to regenerate some of his lost health, but the two together just were too strong and they were both going for him. When he looked back a second before the rhino speared him with his weapon and he died, he saw the Assassins still under the tower, just standing there and WATCHING HIM FUCKING DIE!

Resurrected in the safe zone he panted with fury. Why the hell hadn't she helped him? The gargoyle had been nearly dead! That stupid woman had let him die, again! He bought a Scroll of Town Portal and ported to first tower, all the while growling low in his throat. He was damn mad at the Assassin and her ignorance.

He appeared right next to the Phantom Assassin, who, without looking at him, said: "You should stop feeding. They will get too strong if you let them kill you all the time."

Huskar was stunned speechless. He gaped at her, totally perplexed by that statement. Then he growled again, grinding his teeth. "You stupid, fucking bitch! You could just have…"

"Ah," she interrupted him, looking right at him and having raised her hand. Her voice was low and smooth, almost gentle. "Don't make me responsible for your death. You jumped in, you died. Your problem." She faced away from him again. "Now stay back if the only thing you are good at is dying."

That was enough. He wasn't her support and he definitely wouldn't let her insult him when _she_ had let _him_ die. He turned around and headed away from the tower, going in the direction of the middle road and from there maybe to the bottom road. The Phantom Assassin could do what she liked but he had enough of her snotty attitude. Maybe she was right and he shouldn't have jumped in but he was sure that they, if she had helped him rather than watch the fight from the back, would've been able to kill one, maybe even both of the enemy heroes. He could've died anyway but then it would've been worth it. And she really didn't have to be so overbearing about it.


	3. Chapter 2

Huskar's teeth already hurt from gritting them all the time. He passed first tower on the middle road but no hero was to be seen. The tower was okay, so he ventured on to the bottom road. He went through the woods to be able to use the shadows as cover, rather than running through the stream.

When he heard fighting in front of him he slowed his pace to be able to assess the situation before engaging. When he had a clear view onto the road he stopped, still hidden by the shadows of the trees. Three enemy heroes were lined up against three allied ones. One of the enemies was the man in the flying device. Another was something like a stone golem, but he seemed rather small for such a creature. The third was similar to a human man, but looked as if he belonged into the forests more than onto the road he was walking at the moment. He had a wooden staff in one hand, so he must be some kind of mage.

The Lord of Avernus saw him waiting and called for the other two to attack while he was already charging forward, some kind of sphere surrounding his body. The man in the flying device placed his missile and the stone golem focused on the Lord of Avernus, going directly for him. The forest mage enchanted trees from the forest, which joined the fight together with him. They ignored the two fighting tanks, the Lord of Avernus and the golem, but went around them for the Pugna, surely because he was the one who was easiest to kill. The missile started flying and Huskar saw it was heading towards the Shadow Fiend, while the man attacked the Lord of Avernus as well. Huskar, still a little weary because of how the Phantom Assassin had treated him, didn't jump in but ran out of the trees, using his burning spear to hit first the man on the flying device and second the golem, making them burn in the progress. Then he switched to the man again. The golem let an avalanche of rocks lose that stunned the Lord of Avernus but didn't reach far enough to hit Huskar, who ignored what was happening at his back, convinced that the Pugna and the Shadow Fiend could hold out against the nature man.

The sphere around the Lord burst, dealing damage to the enemies around him.

The golem had some kind of protection, maybe on his skin, that caused the attacker to be sometimes mini-stunned. The first time it happened Huskar was a little confused but if they wanted to kill the golem he had to keep going and just ignore it.

The flying man seemed not to be very happy about how the fight unravelled because he turned around and headed away. _Now or never_ , Huskar thought, taking a deep breath and leaping through the air, landing on the back of the retreating man, doing enough damage to almost kill him. Since his attack speed was heightened through his loss of life, he only needed a few more hits, one with a burning spear that ensured, even when the man reached the safety of his tower where Huskar definitely wouldn't follow him, he would burn and die, and Huskar got the kill. Grinning widely when the man died, his device crashing onto the ground, he turned towards the others, seeing the other three were all going for the golem, the Lord of Avernus cutting through his body with his blade, making him crumble into a pile of rocks on the ground. He joined them, still grinning. The Pugna was the one with the most injuries and he cast his heal on him. "Thanks." The skeleton nodded in his direction. Wow, that was the first time in this war someone had thanked him for his heal. "The third enemy hero?" he asked.

"Got away. He's able to teleport. When he saw you appearing, he popped out."

"It was a good fight nonetheless. I'm back to middle." The Shadow Fiend said and left. Huskar bought a Helm of Iron Will at the neutral merchant, who was standing on the side of the road, making his items available for both towns. The Helm gave him bonus armour and was a part of the Armlet of Mordiggian he wanted to purchase next.

They used the time no enemy hero was on the road to help their soldiers push forward and attack the enemy tower. They got a few hits on the building before heading back.

Since the two had no problems so far on the bottom road, Huskar decided to leave again. He turned into the woods, to kill some beasts. Those beasts were a good way to get money, because the killing blows on them gave extra money, just like the killing blow on enemy soldiers and heroes. By killing them he would also gain experience, so he now roamed through the trees, looking for animals he could kill. He ventured in the direction of the middle road to maybe be able to get a hero kill together with the Shadow Fiend when he arrived at first tower there.

He had just killed a bunch of beasts and had finished, finally, his Power Treads (an upgrade for his boots), when the Phantom Assassin appeared behind him. He only saw a blur on the edge of his field of vision and turned around, his spear held high, ready to attack. Then he registered the frame of the slender woman, all in dark colours, standing in front of him as an ally and lowered his weapon. "What are you doing here?" her voice was low and controlled though Huskar had the feint impression she was angry. He shrugged. "I'm farming. And I helped at the bottom road. Now I'm on my way to the middle road."

"Don't you think you should come back to _your_ road?"

"No, I don't think so. Why, have you died when you were alone up there?"

The Assassin stepped into his personal space then, her gaze boring into his. She was rather tall and he didn't have to look down at her. Her voice, when she talked again, had gotten even lower and held a dangerous undertone. "Yes, I died. Because _you_ were not where your place is. You could do something useful for a start. Now come." She turned around, really believing he would follow her. Hell, she was arrogant. When he didn't follow she looked back, her anger now clearly visible on her beautiful face. "What is your problem?" she hissed.

A shiver went through Huskar and he smiled, though it probably looked more like he was baring his teeth. He wondered briefly how many men she had stared into obedience with that look of hers. "My problem is you. You are an arrogant bitch, who has never learned to say thank you, always believing everybody else is in the wrong. That's why I won't go to the top road with you."

Before he could even blink, she had jumped in front of him and had grabbed one tusk of his bone helmet with a hand, bringing their faces so close together, he could see that she had the tiniest freckles on the dark, slightly blue skin of her nose. "Do I look as if I care for your feelings?" She spat the last word, as if it was something downright repugnant. Her eyes were hard and cold, like stones, and he believed fully that she didn't care for feelings, not only those of others but her own as well. He wanted to get mad at her for treating him like that and for grabbing his helmet, but he was distracted by the tiny spots on her skin, his gaze following how they spread from her nose over her cheeks and disappeared under the metal of her helmet at the sides of her head. They were a chaotic mass of points, some smaller and some bigger, no pattern recognizable. Totally forgotten what they had been talking about, he murmured: "Do you know you have the cutest freckles I have ever seen?"

When she didn't react, he raised his eyes to hers and, seeing her shell shocked expression, he grinned. To be able to get her speechless with such a little statement… He stared at her for a few moments, totally enjoying that he had been able to stun her into silence.

"Okay," he said, his grin vanishing. "Let's make a deal: you stop being such a bitch and I help you at the top road again." When her face returned to her normal, arrogant expression, she started to say, "I'm not a …" But Huskar interrupted her. "You don't have that much of a choice. Since you can't force me to follow you I am rather forthcoming here." He lowered his head a little more, their noses now almost touching, his voice rumbling in his chest. "You have insulted me repeatedly and I don't answer well to that kind of behaviour. Either you at least _try_ to be nice to me or you keep fighting alone. And if you stop acting like a bitch, I will quit calling you one."

To give her credit she didn't back away or show fear though he had to look frightening. She released the tusk that protruded from his helmet, her face closing up even more, making it an unreadable mask. "I don't care how you call me and I sure won't change my behaviour because you have so tender feelings." Then she turned around and, with a slight blur to her form, vanished between the trees. Huskar let out an irritated sigh. So she was not only arrogant but stubborn and unreasonable as well. He shook his head and resumed his way to the middle road. He had to do something about the top road now, since it seemed the Phantom Assassin wouldn't go back there.

On the middle road he helped the Shadow Fiend to push their soldiers forward, but the man on the flying device didn't make it that easy. Huskar had his jump ready but as long as the man was under his tower he wouldn't initiate anything. "Maybe we could check on the top road?" he asked the Fiend, since they weren't able to do anything productive here.

Together they headed top through the stream. The Shadow Fiend was a dark presence at his side, big, with spikes on his shoulders and a deep glow coming from inside of him. He really looked like the demon he was, dangerous and deadly.

Their first tower was down, the soldiers fighting near second tower and the enemy heroes nowhere in sight. That could only mean they had gathered on one of the other roads. They decided to kill the enemy soldiers until they were at the neutral merchants shop at the top road, to buy a Scroll and port to first tower at the bottom road. Since their allies were all there somewhere, it was the safest option.

They activated the Scroll of Town Portal and waited to appear at the bottom road. They were prepared to engage into an ongoing battle.

Huskar took only a second to get a picture of the situation unfolding around him. Four enemy heroes in front of him, two allies behind him. The Shadow Fiend porting in. The Phantom Assassin wasn't present, just like the forest man from the enemies. So it was four against four. Some enemy soldiers were attacking the tower, no allied soldiers in sight. The next wave had to be farther behind. He wondered briefly, if the Lord of Avernus and the Pugna had a plan but he wasn't able to ask because the enemy engaged. The golem took the rhino and hurled him through the air, so that he landed between them. He immediately started to attack them, hitting on the Lord of Avernus, simply because he stood next to him. He did cleave damage though and he cast something that pulled them all together on front of the rhino, stunning them in the progress. Next the man on the flying device placed his missile and the gargoyle neared together with the golem. Technically they had their tower as help, but practically it didn't do enough damage to repel the enemy heroes while he and his allies were all four injured now.

The only good thing about the rhino attacking the Lord of Avernus was that, when his health reached a specific threshold, an ability of his was triggered, which gave him back health for the next incoming attacks instead of draining it. Huskar decided he wouldn't go for the rhino but focus on the flying man again, since he had been a rather easy kill. He crouched and jumped, hitting the man full on. He immediately began throwing his spear at him, somewhere in between a few burning ones to make more damage. It was working so far but then the gargoyle helped the man. Huskar activated his healing and kept attacking the man, which was even easier now that the gargoyle drained his health and thus raised his attack speed. Since the golem didn't go for him he assumed the other three must be fighting against him. The flying man retreated, but too late. Huskar got a good shot with a burning spear and though the man was now outside of his attack range he was burning and the fire gave him the rest. With a crushing sound, the flying device crashed on the ground and broke into several parts, the man sitting in it already dead but burning.

The gargoyle was still attacking him and since he had totally ignored him until now he had still his full health whereas Huskar was near to death. He considered briefly if it was reasonable to return his attacks but decided not to go for it but retreat instead. Not that he had a very good chance to escape, especially since the gargoyle had to familiars to support him and the three of them did much damage. Then the gargoyle cast something that drained all remaining health from him.

Damn it, the gargoyle was a strong opponent. Huskar would have to pay more attention to it the next time he fought.


	4. Chapter 3

When Huskar appeared in the safe zone after he was resurrected he took a deep breath. At least it hadn't been the fault of the Phantom Assassin this time but his own. He should consider more carefully when to jump into battle and where. He only hoped the other three had been able to kill the two enemy heroes who hadn't been fighting against him. With him occupying two enemies, his allies had had the advantage of numbers. He would check on them and then, depending on the situation at the bottom road, head into the woods to kill a few beasts.

At the bottom road everything seemed fine. The Pugna and the Lord of Avernus were far away from their tower, pushing the soldiers ahead to attack the enemy tower. The Shadow Fiend wasn't with them, and they told him he hadn't survived though he had done a lot of damage because when he died he let a wave of demon fire with his dying form as centre loose. They had gotten the golem and the rhino, but not the gargoyle.

He hit a few times at the tower to help break the building down and then, them all heading back, he turned into the woods. The first few places were the beasts normally lingered were empty and he went on. Since the Assassin was probably still here somewhere it was no wonder there were fewer beasts.

Suddenly he heard fighting ahead and then the Phantom Assassin appeared between the trees, heavily wounded. When she saw him she jumped, appearing right in front of him, leaving the enemy heroes, the golem and the man on the flying device, who were following her, far behind. The Assassin ran past him and without further thought, he turned and ran after her. He stopped for a second and cast his heal on her and when he looked back he saw the missile from the man starting its flight. Shit, no matter whom it would hit, the one would surely be dead because while stunned the enemy would make the kill.

"To first tower!" Huskar shouted to the Assassin. He was sure the lord of Avernus and the Pugna were still around there and if not, they could at least use the help of the tower.

He could hear the missile next to him, nearly at high with him now and also clearly aiming for the Assassin, who was a few feet ahead of him. But she was still injured and maybe the missile would kill her just with its impact. The only possibility to save her was to destroy the missile. He didn't know if it was possible but he threw a spear at the thing. And fortunately it really worked, the missile took damaged from the weapon. So Huskar continued, aware of the enemy heroes nearing him but unable to do anything else to save the woman in front of him.

Huskar threw his spears and the missile, finally destroyed, exploded in the air, only inches away from hitting the Phantom Assassin but dealing absolutely no damage now. When he wanted to take a relieved breath, the flying device hit him, surely thrown by the golem like he had seen before. The man in the device fired at him, dealing additional damage to the hit from the device, but Huskar kept running after the Assassin, not slowing down. He didn't have a chance against the two and he knew it. And he sure as hell didn't want to die again because he had saved the damn woman.

But then backup arrived in from of the Lord of Avernus and the Pugna. The two seemed inseparable but that only made them stronger as the support and carry combination. They rushed past Huskar at the two enemies and Huskar turned around, wanting to use his increased attack speed to back them up. The two had turned around when they had seen that they were outnumbered now but the man in the flying device was a little too slow. And since no one else was in sight Huskar decided it was worth a try and he jumped at the man. He was near death now and his attack speed was awesome.

It hadn't been that bad an idea, because the Lord of Avernus healed him now and thanks to their help they killed the man. Again he was burning when his device crashed and Huskar stood over his remains, grinning widely, his skin a deep blue colour due to his lost life and the magic resistance it gave him in addition to the attack speed.

"Thank you, guys. I hoped you were still around. And double thanks for the healing. "

The Lord of Avernus nodded and the Pugna said: "You're welcome."

"I will go to regenerate and then join you again."

"We were going to head to the middle road to destroy the tower there."

Huskar nodded and headed off to the safe zone. That had definitely been close. For him as well as for the Assassin. And like the last times, she had just vanished after he had saved her. He bristled with anger though he should be used to it by now.

When he arrived in the safe zone the Phantom Assassin was still there, browsing through the wares of the merchant in front of her. When she heard him she turned around and for a second it looked as if she wanted to say something. But she turned back to the merchant abruptly and then was off again without another glance in his direction.

Gods, what was her problem? Too proud to thank someone? He had the mad desire to shake her and maybe even slap her once or twice, pound a little reason into her thick head. He would have done it if he had seen the slightest possibility that it might work. As it was, he didn't think anything could change that haughty bitch's behaviour.

And he might just have to save her again because she was their best carry and they all had to secure her survival so she could buy her required items to get stronger. In the end she would be the one to kill the enemy heroes but first she needed items.

Shoving the thought about this nerve-racking female aside, he decided to go for the Helm of the Dominator before he bought the Armlet, for which he only needed the Morbid Mask and which would give him life steal, and headed for the middle road.

At first tower the fighting went back and forth. The Lord of Avernus together with the Pugna and the Shadow Fiend were defending the building against four enemy heroes. Again only the forest man was missing. He was probably killing the beasts in their woods. And that meant he was their carry. Damn, they should search the woods and kill him like the enemy had tried with the Phantom Assassin or they could have a problem if they let him get money and experience that easily.

First he concentrated on the problem at hand: the enemy trying to destroy their tower. They stayed near the building and waited. Huskar really didn't want to initiate the fight though he could, with his jump. But if he jumped in and they all focused on him he would be dead in seconds. And he suddenly realised they had nobody who could stun. And then, just like at the bottom road, the rhino charged in. He rushed forward suddenly and did his together pulling and stunning again. Since he hadn't been thrown the golem used this ability to throw another one between them, the gargoyle. Then bombs began crashing down on them while the golem neared.

They all four spread in different directions, away from the two enemy heroes and the falling bombs. This time the rhino went for the Shadow Fiend, together with the gargoyle, but the demon had already bought an item with which he could go invisible and he was able to escape, though it was rather narrow. Then the stunning missile hit the Lord of Avernus. The enemy heroes ignored him and focused on the Pugna, simply because he was easier to kill. Huskar wasn't sure if they had a chance but since the skeleton had helped him before he would try to help him now. He cast his healing on him and threw burning spears at the gargoyle and the rhino. The golem was still out of reach but drawing nearer and the man on the flying device advanced as well. They had to take them down fast or they would be hard pressed to kill even one.

As soon as the stun on the Lord of Avernus faded he attacked the rhino, also healing the Pugna, who was still the focus of the enemy heroes. And then, the decision being made in only a second, Huskar jumped at the rhino. His health was really low now but when the rhino cast the wave of his, the magic resistance granted because of his low health prevented him almost completely from taking damage. The Lord of Avernus made the last strike with his blade, the blood from the rhino splashing around and the beast falling to the ground. That was the last Huskar saw because the golem sent an avalanche rolling over them, stunning them all, and then the gargoyle attacked him. Since he was unable to move he could do nothing, therefore even the life steal from his item couldn't safe him because he couldn't attack, and, again, he was killed. Gods, would that ever stop? Why did they always get _him_?

When he resurrected in the safe zone he waited to see if one of the others appeared. The Lord of Avernus had died this time as well and came back to life next to him. Then the other two ran in from the town to regenerate. They were both heavily wounded but it seemed the Shadow Fiend had turned back to the fight after going invisible and had resumed his attacks. He had been able to buy the Pugna enough time to escape and the enemy heroes hadn't chased after them.

"Whom did you get?" Huskar asked. They would achieve nothing if they weren't able to kill more enemy heroes then the enemy did.

"We got the gargoyle and the beast. We were too much injured to keep fighting and retreated instead of going for the golem." The Pugna nodded first to him and then to the Lord of Avernus. "Thanks for healing. Maybe you should keep it for yourself though, next time. I'm only the support but you shouldn't die." The Lord of Avernus only looked at the small skeleton without saying anything.

Huskar shrugged. "It seemed right at that moment. But maybe you are right. Don't make me responsible then, when you die next time and I don't."

"I won't."

The four of them decided to try to get the tower on the middle road and if it didn't work look for the forest man in the enemy woods. When they were together maybe they could surprise him and kill him.

Huskar thought about going to the Phantom Assassin to see if she might help them but decided against it. She would probably only insult him again and he could definitely do without that.

At the tower they had the four enemy heroes against them, again. They went back and forth, depending on the soldiers, but weren't able to make any ground. The enemy wasn't either, but they would get neither experience nor gold in this seesaw. So Huskar remained at the tower to defend the building while the other three would look for the forest man. Of course it wasn't the best of ideas since Huskar had now four heroes against him, but if they got the forest man while he was able to stay alive it would be worth it. He remained behind the tower but ultimately that wasn't enough.

The golem threw the man on the flying device (surely that hadn't been his goal from the look on the man's face to judge) and the attack started. The only ones near enough to hit him was the gargoyle and the man but the rhino and the golem were on their way. They got in a few hits that damn hurt. And the flying device had some rapid fire guns that did more damage than he liked. The rhino was clearly making himself ready to charge in and that's when Huskar decided it was enough.

Not seeing any other chance to survive this fight he turned and ran into the woods, not taking the straight way back to avoid another attack. He could hear someone following him and ran faster. He tried to use the shadows between the trees as cover as often as possible to give the enemy no way to focus an attack on him.

Suddenly in front of him the Phantom Assassin stepped out of the trees onto a clearing. She looked in his direction and stopped, staring. Her gaze flitted to his right shoulder and she clearly saw the enemy at his back. She went into her battle stance and threw one of her daggers over his shoulder, which hit the one behind him with a soft thud, slowing him. The Assassin didn't turn around though, but remained focused on the enemy.

What the hell did she want to do now? Fight? That would be a first but definitely not the right time for that. He was near to death and in no condition to help her and in the worst case there were four enemy heroes pursuing him.

While in full run he grabbed her arm, spun her around and dragged her with him. At first she gave no resistance and followed him. Maybe she was too shocked to do something else. But as soon as second tower of the bottom road came into view she began to struggle and pulled at the hand still grabbing her arm.

"What do you think you are doing?" she hissed at him.

"Saving your ass. Again." Huskar still didn't slow down, though his whole body was hurting. He had to get into town, only then was he save enough. And he would take that still struggling bitch with him because, even if he didn't like it, he was kind of her support and if he was able to, he _would_ save her. If she wanted or not. And she clearly didn't want and thus wouldn't appreciate it. But nothing new about that.

When he released her inside of the town, she grabbed his arm. He was strong enough to break her grip, but no use in making her angrier then she was. So he just looked at her and waited for what she had to say.

"I knew what I was doing! Stop treating me like some incompetent child! If I want to take that fight then I will take it!"

Huskar could feel the anger heating his blood. That insolent female! "Do you have no spark of rational though in your head? You have no chance against four of them!" He took a deep breath to compose himself. He had the urge to yell and to shake her but that would gain him nothing. So he tried to beat his anger down, tried to think clearly despite her being a bitch again.

Of course it had been stupid of her to want to take that fight. But on the other hand she was right. It was not his job to decide for her what to do. He could help her but that was _his_ decision about his _own_ actions. He was still angry at her because she didn't want to acknowledge that he had saved her but maybe he had to accept that it was her way.

And _that_ wasn't what they were arguing about at present. She was complaining about him taking away her freedom of choice by forcing his choice onto her. He took another deep breath and looked into her light green eyes. She was still angry and he realized that she was perfectly entitled to be. "You are right. I'm sorry."

And just like that her anger vanished from her face. She blinked a few times and then let go of his arm. She took a step back but kept staring at him as if she couldn't believe he had conceded the point to her. Maybe she waited for him to take the apology back. But since she had been right to be angry at him in that point he didn't plan to. Only because she was impolite and couldn't see her own faults he didn't have to act the same way. Maybe it even made him more sensible to mind for such things.

Then, it was such a small gesture Huskar wasn't sure he had seen it right, she nodded at him, like an appreciation of his apology, and then left the town, passing him on her way. Wow, even if it was no "thank you" it was a teeny-tiny step in that direction.

Huskar stared after her for a moment. Then he smiled, his anger suddenly less intense.


	5. Chapter 4

Huskar regenerated and headed out again. First he went to second tower on the middle road but the enemy hadn't pushed further then first tower, which was destroyed by now. He killed the enemy soldiers, focusing on making the last hits on them to get the extra gold for the killing blows. Then he continued to get the items for the Armlet of Mordiggian by buying the Helm of Iron Will a second time. Still no enemy in sight he followed his soldiers along the way and fought with them against the next wave of enemy soldiers. He was on the height of the destroyed first tower now. He was a little wary but decided, since he seemed to be alone, to get a few hits on the enemy tower. As it was, they had only been able to destroy one of those buildings but had already lost at least two.

Except the clashing of the weapons it was strangely quite around the tower. Throwing one last spear against the building Huskar went back on the road and then turned to the right on a path to the top road. Maybe he would meet the other three there. And if not, he could at least check on the tower up there. Second tower okay, he joined a wave of soldiers between second and first tower, letting them take the lead so he would have a bit more vision to the front.

He could hear fighting ahead and made his burning spear ready. Behind a bent he saw them: the Lord of Avernus, the sphere around him, in the middle of a fight, enemy and allied soldiers around, the Pugna a little farther back and the Shadow Fiend under the trees out of the vision of the enemy. The gargoyle and the man on the flying device were behind their tower while the rhino and the golem were standing between the soldiers, going for the Lord of Avernus. It was four against three without Huskar and he wasn't sure the nature man wasn't around somewhere since they were sure he had been in the woods up here.

The Lord of Avernus was taking all the damage but seemed not overly concerned about it. Nonetheless Huskar started throwing his spears at the two enemy heroes in his reach as soon as he was near enough, setting them on fire. Then, suddenly, the two behind the tower charged forward. The man began casting first his missile and then the falling bombs while the gargoyle did some things that weren't clearly visible but that slowed and drained life somehow. The rhino and the golem must have been holding back as well because now they began to stun the Lord of Avernus. Just when his ability was triggered to give him life back in the amount of damage he took, they stopped attacking him and turned towards Huskar and the Pugna. The skeleton had begun to attack as well, casting some spells but when they came for him, he immediately turned around and retreated, knowing he would be an easy kill for those four. Huskar shirked their line of attack by sidestepping into the shadow of the woods but followed parallel to their attack together with the Shadow Fiend. He was indecisive if he should go in and attack one of them and the demon seemed to feel the same. They were all injured and the enemies had strong spells, the rhino had to still have his bringing-together-and-stunning-all-in-front-of-him ability.

The gargoyle and the man were behind the two others and Huskar and the Shadow Fiend looked at each other, surely thinking the same: it was their chance to go for those two while the others were occupied with chasing the Pugna. And the Lord of Avernus was also somewhere around.

Without further communication Huskar nodded to the demon and together they neared the enemy heroes from the side. When they were in reach of his leap, Huskar attacked, again going for the man on the flying device. The Shadow Fiend joined and the Lord of Avernus appeared behind them as well. They focused on the man first since Huskar's jump had drained much of his life. One of the demon's fire balls dealt the killing blow, hitting the man right in the chest and nearly knocking him out of his device. The thing crashed to the ground, the man's s soul consumed by the Shadow Fiend.

Like before, Huskar had ignored the gargoyle but this time he wasn't alone and when he turned around to retreat he was also able to activate his healing ability while the other two attacked the enemy hero. But in the meantime the golem and the rhino had stopped chasing the Pugna, though Huskar didn't know if it was because he was dead, and now they were turning around.

"Get back!" Huskar shouted, because he was injured, as was the Lord of Avernus and the rhino _still_ must have his stun. And fortunately they did just that, following Huskar into the woods. The Shadow Fiend was fast enough, activating the shadow walk, given by one of his items, and vanishing under the trees.

The Lord of Avernus was not that lucky because the golem hurled the rhino through the air, hitting him full force. Huskar hesitated, not wanting to leave him alone but in the end he had no choice if he wanted to survive. He had nothing to save the Lord of Avernus or to help him escape and sad as it was, if he didn't want to die, again, he should run. And so he did just that.

He followed a small path down to the stream and then another one in the direction of the middle road up again. He could hear splashing behind him, the three enemy heroes going after him. Then he saw the Pugna in front of him, waving for him to follow. He ran up on a small platform were the Phantom Assassin was killing dragons.

The Pugna didn't look injured and seemed ready to fight. "How many?"

"Three. Rhino, golem and gargoyle. Rhino still has stun."

The Phantom Assassin looked at him. "We fight." Without waiting for an answer she turned towards the first one coming up the path, the rhino. As soon as he saw them he rushed forward, his head bent low and his horn pointing forward. He attacked Huskar, ignoring the other two. And that was his mistake.

The Phantom Assassin had gotten much money from killing the beasts in the woods all the time and she had bought an item to give her spell immunity. When the rhino tried to stun them, she was out of reach and therefore still able to move. She threw a dagger at the golem, who was following right behind, slowing him so she only had to deal with the rhino at the moment. She attacked the rhino then with her blade and gods did she do much damage. And the focus of the beast wavered. He really would've been able to kill Huskar but the attack of the woman let him chance his target and he went for her instead, as did the golem and the gargoyle when they were in fighting range, but her now activated spell immunity gave her enough protection not to be stunned or something like that.

Finally the stun duration from the ability of the rhino was over and Huskar backed away a bit. When he was outside of immediate danger he turned back to the fight. The Pugna had begun to drain the rhino of his life, restoring his own in the process. That was when the enemy hero changed his focus again, going for the skeleton now. The life drain didn't stop though and now Huskar began throwing his spear. He didn't use burning ones, because if they burned he wasn't able to use the life steal of his Helm of the Dominator. He was near death and so his attack speed and magic immunity was extremely high. He saw the exact moment when the rhino realised he wouldn't make it, because his steps faltered for a second. But he didn't try to escape, probably because he knew it was too late by now. When one of Huskar's spears, which had been aimed right at the beast's heart, struck him in the chest, he stumbled and then hit the ground, hard, blood pouring out of the wound.

Huskar took a second to take a breath before turning towards the Assassin. She was still fighting and though she did much damage she was going against two. She was injured and her spell immunity faded right that second, making it possible for the golem to hurl an avalanche at her, stunning her with it. Huskar cast his healing ability onto her and, since he had been able to steal a little life from the rhino and wasn't as near to death as before anymore, he decided to go in, this time not forgetting the gargoyle.

He cowered and then he leaped at the gargoyle. The Pugna did some spells and attacked the golem so both enemy heroes were occupied and hopefully distracted from killing the Phantom Assassin.

And it worked, though it was a close run for all three of them. They stood there, panting, looking at the remains of the enemy heroes, to whom the Phantom Assassin had delivered the killing blows. First she had nearly sliced the head off of the gargoyle with her blade after jumping at him and then she had landed a critical hit with her dagger, the weapon sinking deep into the back of the golem, making him crumble into a pile of rocks. Somehow strange that such a creature could be killed by this tiny weapon.

The Phantom Assassin looked at him and frowned. "Do you know that you are blue?"

Huskar blinked a few times, unsure what to do with that question. Aside from the fact this was the first time the woman initiated a conversation without insulting him, he still felt a little off balance from the fight. It had been way too close for his liking. But, he had to admit, the Assassin had been unexpectedly skilled. Her damage output had been massive and she had looked kind of graceful while wielding her blade. And she threw her dagger with absolute accuracy.

Before he could say something stupid, the Pugna turned away from them. "I'm out. Back in town and waiting for Abaddon."

Abaddon? Well, that had to be the Lord of Avernus. It seemed he and the Pugna either knew each other from before the war of the towns in which they were partaking or they had introduced themselves to each other. Regardless of which, they got along much better then he and the Phantom Assassin.

With that thought he looked again at the woman beside him, bleeding from several wounds but still standing in her battle stance. He decided to ignore her question about the colour of his skin. As if he would turn blue without realizing it… Instead he said the first thing that popped into his head next. "Good job. You fought really well against the three of them. And thanks for the help."

She didn't answer, just kept staring at him. Huskar knew his skin colour changed back to normal the more he healed and it seemed the Assassin was watching this change. Her face was an unreadable mask again, so he didn't know what she was thinking. Did she consider it weird? Observing him like she would observe an unknown phenomenon in nature? Or more like watching an insect crawling on the ground, since she had such a high degree of esteem of herself?

Suddenly she turned her gaze away and without another word headed in the direction of the town, leaving a confused Huskar standing there.

"That was rather strange." He muttered to himself and followed her, since he still needed to regenerate. First her unusual question and then the staring.

In the safe zone he took the time to look at the wares of the merchant, though he already knew what he would buy next. But he had the Armlet of Mordiggian almost finished he was still deciding on what to take after that. Maybe he should go for a greater damage output. Or for more strength, since that would gain him the same in the end. Or maybe some armour? If he could save enough money, which meant no more dying, he could buy a Reaver. That would give him strength and he could then go for a Satanic for better life steal. Maybe that should be his goal. The only problem was that the thing was _really_ expensive.

He decided to wait. If he died too often he wouldn't be able to buy it. But maybe, since he had survived the last team fight, there was hope. First he would finish the Armlet anyway. Getting the next item for it he looked around in the safe zone. The Lord of Avernus and the Pugna had departed as soon as the Lord had been resurrected. The Pugna had apologized more than once for not being able to help him and the Lord of Avernus had every time reassured him it wasn't his fault. That he could have done nothing. And that he wasn't mad at him for retreating.

They had left the safe zone talking softly and Huskar was sure they had known each other before this war. They looked so much like friends, maybe they fought together at a regular basis. Maybe even outside of the town wars.

He started to look for the Phantom Assassin, his partner on the road, but of course she had already left. And without thanking him though he had saved her again, with his heal. He took a deep breath to compose himself. She had fought really well so her arrogance might be, if not one of her nicer characteristics, at least warrantable. And maybe he should focus on the good things rather than on the bad ones. She had at least not insulted him anymore and she hadn't ignored him. And though she had stared at him for nearly a minute she hadn't looked as if he disgusted her, which was definitely an improvement. He sighed. The war between the towns would have to go endlessly to get her from these small improvements in her behaviour to becoming a nice person, if they took that long to evolve.

Nonetheless her disappearance, though she had probably just gone back into the woods, left him with the decision what to do next. The Shadow Fiend hadn't returned to town and Huskar didn't know if the three had been able to get the forest man when they had gone into the enemy woods before the fight at the top road.


	6. Chapter 5

Huskar decided to go to the bottom road and if nobody was there head through the woods to the middle and then to the top road. They had to get one of the enemy towers eventually. At least they had had a good fight though the Lord of Avernus had died. But better than the ones before.

When he was on the bottom road between first and second tower he thought he had seen something in the woods to his left. A movement definitely not caused by one of the beast. Huskar stopped immediately in his tracks. Then he shifted towards the trees on his right to have more time to react if someone stepped out of the woods on his left. Then he headed back to second tower, his gaze roaming aver the trees, trying to penetrate the shadows. He got to the tower without problems but he thought about the Phantom Assassin, who was with the utmost probability roaming those woods. And he was more than sure the movement he had seen had been from an enemy hero, not from the woman. And when there was one the second wouldn't be far behind. Maybe they were looking for the Assassin again, to gank her and get an easy kill due to an advantage in numbers.

Huskar stood under the tower, unsure how to proceed. If he went into the woods to look for the Assassin he would encounter the enemy heroes, maybe before he could warn the woman or maybe after they had already killed her. One way or the other the likelihood of him dying was far too grand. He didn't return to town though and kept looking into the woods. He had the irrational need, regardless of the danger to himself, to help the Phantom Assassin though she only ever insulted him and had not once thanked him.

He exhaled a breath he had been holding and forced himself to back away from the tower. It would gain him nothing to stand there and stare. He couldn't help the Assassin. So he should go for the middle road, just as he had planned, to get together with his allied heroes. He was rather reluctant to go but he had no other choice. So he finally turned around and headed to the middle road.

That's when he saw her. The Phantom Assassin was killing some beasts, just to his right. He stopped for a second and looked at her, his gaze scanning her from her feet to her head. She had a few injuries but seemed not be hurt that badly. He scowled, because while watching her realized that those injuries couldn't derive from the beasts. She killed them far too quickly, leaving them no chance to hurt her.

The Phantom Assassin turned around and looked at him. Huskar was sure she had sensed him standing there. "What?"

Huskar's scowl deepened, not because of the briskness of her question but rather because of his sudden but clearly unnecessary concern about her wellbeing that he couldn't supress. "Did the enemy heroes gank you in the woods?"

The face of the woman in front of him showed nothing. But she nodded and then gestured to the cliff at her back. "I jumped down and they couldn't follow."

Before he could stop himself, Huskar asked: "Are you okay?"

The woman looked at him for a few moments. Then she shrugged. "Of course." She turned and headed right back into the woods, heedless of the possible danger of the enemy, who might still be there, waiting for her. Huskar opened his mouth to say something equally off-the-cuff as his question before, but snapped it shut again. He could warn her but she would never take an advice from him. Which meant he could save his breath.

So he watched her retreating form, slightly blurred and thus kind of melting with her surroundings, then shook his head and continued on his way. She had seemed not overly concerned so maybe he should have a little more faith in her. She had been able to escape so she could do it again. And the enemy couldn't afford to keep searching for her all the time because that way they couldn't protect their towers.

Near the place where their first tower had been he could hear the noise of fighting. The Lord of Avernus, the Pugna and the Shadow Fiend were in front of the enemy tower, attacking the building. A few soldiers were with them and Huskar could see the building caving in and crumpling down. The three turned around to head back, not wanting to stand there in the open where the enemy could easily attack them.

Huskar remained on their side of the stream and waited for them. That was when, from his right side, the enemy appeared. The first one was the golem, who had somehow gotten bigger since their last encounter, right behind him the gargoyle. They stepped out of the woods in front of him but ignored him, totally focused on the other three, now standing with their feet in the water. They didn't stop but ran up to the enemy, the Lord of Avernus at the front. That's when the rhino jumped in the middle and like before used his ability to pull all together and stun them. When they were all three immobilized the man on the flying device cast the bombs that fell from the sky. The three were hit hard and Huskar, seeing no chance to save them, took a few steps back just when the nature man appeared out of nowhere in the stream, on the side of the fight but still in range to attack the Shadow Fiend. Not there were five enemy heroes and all five almost completely uninjured.

Huskar took another step back, though it was hard to leave them to die, when he felt the Phantom Assassin stepping out of the woods behind him. It was like the tiniest ripple in the air. She took only the fraction of a second to survey the scene in front of her, then she started running towards the sight. Her cloak brushed against his bare shoulder as she passed him and the touch brought Huskar out of his retreat. He started running as well only a step behind the woman. "Go!" she shouted at him. "Go for the druid!" And then she jumped right in the middle of the fight. She was marvellous. Activating her magic immunity she started attacking the enemy heroes, hitting all around her, leaving open wounds and blood splattering onto the ground. And all the while her expression didn't change one iota.

Her appearance surprised the enemy heroes and distracted them for a second. But not long enough to save the Shadow Fiend or the Pugna. Huskar did what the Assassin had told him, simply because it didn't look as if she needed help at the moment where she was fighting and the nature man, being at the edge of the fight, could do damage without being in danger. So with a last glance at the Phantom Assassin, surrounded by enemy heroes but not in the least disturbed by it, he jumped at the mage. The man, who had just adapted to the appearance of the Phantom Assassin, was surprised again and it took him a moment to counter Huskar's attack. And then he was already half dead. Since he now started to fight back, Huskar took the time to cast his healing ability onto himself, throwing a burning spear from time to time between his normal ones, to make the man burn. And when he turned around to escape, Huskar simply followed and because of his heightened attack speed he was able to throw several spears at the back of the retreating man. The last one struck deep with the force of the shot and Huskar was sure the head of the spear could be seen protruding from the chest of the man. He crumbled to the ground, Huskar having killed him.

Injured (the man had dealt astonishingly much damage) but still alive he turned to the fight at his back, where the Lord of Avernus and the Assassin, her magic immunity worn off, were still lined up against four others. They were looking remarkably good especially compared to the enemy. The gargoyle was already heading to his town and the man on the flying device was trying to entangle himself from the fight to follow the gargoyle into safety. Only the golem and the rhino resumed fighting and they were strong.

In that moment, when the flying man was just out of fighting range, the Assassin threw her dagger at him and followed the weapon with one of her jumps. She had only to deal one hit against the man, her blade cutting across his back, blood flowing onto the ground. The device kept flying for a few feet, while the Assassin had already jumped off the thing, before it crashed into a tree due to the dead man not steering it any more. When she turned back, Huskar had already engaged in the fight around the Lord of Avernus, who had been facing the two enemy heroes alone.

When Huskar entered the fight, he backed away. But the enemy heroes remained focused on him and followed him. And bad enough, they still had mana to cast some of their spells. Huskar threw one spear after the other, some of them burning, and as soon as his healing ability was ready he cast it on the Lord of Avernus. The healing came not one second too soon, because the golem threw the rhino in that moment at the Lord and if he hadn't had the healing he would have been dead from the impact of the rhino hitting him. As it was, he was able to keep running in the direction of the town and now the Phantom Assassin joined Huskar. She threw one of her daggers at the rhino and then jumped at the golem. The dagger had clearly been a saving action because it slowed the movement of the rhino, making it possible for the Lord of Avernus to pass second tower and vanish from their view. Huskar kept hurling spear after spear at the enemy, first the golem to support the Phantom Assassin, which was the right thing to do because the golem let one of his avalanches loose to stun the woman. It didn't save him though, because the stones missed Huskar, who had been standing at little at the side of the road and who was now able to deliver the killing blow to the creature with one of his spears.

Without giving the pile of stones another glance he looked for the rhino but couldn't see him anywhere. He had possibly jumped away when he had realized he had no chance against him and the Phantom Assassin. The worst case was, he was still pursuing the Lord of Avernus, but since Huskar couldn't see him he could do nothing for the Lord.

He strolled towards the Assassin, who could move again. She was severely injured, as was Huskar, but they had won. Well, rather the Phantom Assassin had won, since she had been the one to turn the tide in this fight. Of course it wasn't that good that the Shadow Fiend and the Pugna had died, but the skeleton was their support and thus it was better he didn't survive then their carry. And they had gotten the enemy tower destroyed. And, assuming the Lord of Avernus had been able to get into town, they had killed three enemy heroes when only two allied heroes had died.

A slow grin spread across Huskar's face. The killing blow on the golem should have belonged to the Assassin, but, as it was, he had killed two enemy heroes in this fight. And that meant he had money! Finally he wasn't dying all the time anymore. And the Phantom Assassin was awesome. She had been a rather lame and unreliable at the beginning, which had disturbed Huskar, but now, when she had been able to buy good items for herself, she was rocking this war. "Good job." He was still grinning.

She eyed him up. "Of course. And if you hadn't been so hesitant we could've been even better. Maybe next time don't stand around staring into space, stop dawdling and start fighting. It is not as if you _have_ to stand back like a support." Huskar's grin vanished. She was right, he could have gone in. But without the engagement of the Phantom Assassin they would have all four been dead within seconds. And due to his previous experiences with her regarding a fight he couldn't be sure she would appear and help them. So no, he hadn't been sure if he should join the fight or not and if she hadn't appeared he wouldn't have but would've headed back, away from the fighting before dying as well.

Huskar locked his gaze with hers. "If you care to remember the first fights we had together you would see why I can't trust you to back me up. I did engage back then but you upped and left. And since I don't want to die all the time I am a little more careful now. So it is you who are to blame for my reluctance to mindlessly engage in every fight I see."

The smallest of frowns appeared on her face, the skin between her elegantly curved brows wrinkling adorably. She kept looking at him without saying anything. Then, finally, she nodded. "Okay. I understand your hesitation. But I prefer to go in the offensive now, so you should tuck your indecision away. We will go all five together and when I attack, I want all of you by my side. No hesitation, no indecision, we want to win this war, we'll have to fight confidently and boldly. And you," she lightly tapped his chest between the leather straps holding his shoulder armour with her gloved finger, " _are_ confident and bold. Maybe you could start acting like it."

She seemed to really want to fight now, not like at the beginning of the war. So maybe she was right and he should change his behaviour again. First he would buy the remaining items for the Armlet of Mordiggian and then, according to what the Phantom Assassin wanted, they would head out together, as a group of five. They were a strong team and with the Assassin fighting like she had done in the last two fights, they would win every single battle.

She was still standing in front of him, waiting for an answer. Huskar looked at her delicate features, the freckles on her nose and suddenly he had forgotten what she had wanted from him. His mind drifted away from the war and his eyes roamed over her face. His gaze traced the line of her nose, following the path of the tiny dots then skimming to her mouth, her lips, somewhat darker than her skin colour, slightly parted. Her skin looked soft and her slanted eyes were of such a light green, they looked almost colourless.

Before his mind registered what his mouth was about to do, he said: "You are beautiful." His fingers began to itch with the insane wish to touch her, to feel her skin against his, but he wasn't that stupid that he took such liberties with an assassin.

Like the last time he had made her a compliment, she seemed stunned by it and Huskar had to grin again, despite him having to grab his weapons hard to refrain from reaching out for her. She blinked a few times and then frowned, confusion written on her face. "You are serious about that, aren't you?" As if she couldn't believe it. Damn, had no one ever told her how good-looking she was? Even cute sometimes? That was a rather sad thought because a woman, especially a woman like her, deserved a compliment from time to time. Even a troll knew _that_ much about women. "Well, you could say it doesn't mean much, since I'm a troll and have mostly met troll women, when I say you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met." He shrugged. "But it is nonetheless true."

That was when the most extraordinary thing happened: first she narrowed her eyes, looking at him as if to find out if he meant what he had said. And then, the Phantom Assassin _smiled_. A slow smile, which spread across her face, made her eyes glow and her whole demeanour change from the battle ready assassin to a carefree and happy _woman_. It took his breath away and he kept staring at her, his mouth open in shock. While she had been beautiful before, she was now absolutely stunningly _gorgeous_.

The next extraordinary thing followed right behind: The Assassin thanked him! "That is really cute of you. Thank you." And still smiling she headed in the direction of the town and left Huskar staring after her, totally dumbfounded.

Slowly he followed, still processing what just had happened. Aside from the fact she had thanked him, which was confusing as hell, Huskar was really thrown off by how absolutely gorgeous the Phantom Assassin was when she smiled. And by how he had suddenly all but _craved_ to touch her. To feel her skin against his and to breath her scent in until it was embedded in his brain, maybe even until it lingered over his own, merging her and his scent together, as if she belonged to him and he to her. She would smell like him, then, too and everyone would know it. It was a possessive though, laced with the want to mark her as his.

Huskar shook his head to clear it from those strange thoughts. There was and would be no possessing with her. And though she had thanked him for his compliment she hadn't done that with his actions. She was still an arrogant bitch after all, if not about her appearance, than definitely about her skill, which wasn't any better. His behaviour was completely irrational and he tried to shove it away.


	7. Chapter 6

When Huskar entered the save zone, the other four heroes had already gathered and were deciding how to proceed in this war. The Phantom Assassin made her point of view pretty clear and it seemed the others had no problem with it. Huskar hastily bought the remaining items for his Armlet (finally!) and then rushed after the others, who had already left for first tower on the bottom road. They would try to destroy the remaining first towers of the enemy before taking down one of the second towers.

They had to be prepared for an attack of the enemy heroes and that it would be fast and hard. And if they didn't encounter them while destroying the tower they had to head to the top road immediately since it was to be suspected that the enemy would try to destroy their second towers now one after the other.

They all bought a Scroll of Town Portal to be able to switch to the top road quickly as soon as the enemy tower on the bottom road had fallen. It was a good decision of them, because they met no resistance when they followed their soldiers, pushing forward as fast as they could. In front of the enemy tower, while attacking the building, they split a little so they weren't standing close enough together to get hit by the rhino with his push-together-and-stun ability.

The Pugna stayed a little farther back and scanned the way up from the stream for incoming threats. But nothing happened and as soon as the building collapsed they all activated their scrolls and ported to the top road.

They would have appeared next to their second tower but it must be destroyed because it was third tower, the scroll ported them to. It wasn't a bad teleport, though, because the enemy heroes where still around, trying to go for this tower as long as they could.

The only problem was, they saw them porting in and were prepared. Not that Huskar wasn't prepared for everything, but he needed a split second to get his bearings after arrival, to see where he was standing, where the enemies were and where his allies were. And that was enough time for the rhino to blink between their appearing bodies. The only one who was even faster was the Phantom Assassin. She activated her magic immunity before the rhino could hit her with his ability. She was stunned by the rhino, too, but was immune to all other magic.

The others, except the Pugna, who had ported farthest behind the tower, were stunned and Huskar cursed silently because, of course, the other enemy heroes used this time when they couldn't move well. The man on the flying device cast the falling bombs, which hit full force, followed by the stunning missile. The golem threw the gargoyle at them and the nature man used one of his abilities, which did damage to all of them.

After all that the only one nearly undamaged, since her magic immunity blocked all magical damage, was the Phantom Assassin. The Pugna had only been hit by the magic from the forest mage but the Lord of Avernus, the Shadow Fiend and Huskar were injured pretty badly. The Lord had one of his abilities to compensate for that and Huskar had his healing ability plus life steal, which was increased due to his higher attack speed now, and his Armlet. This left the Shadow Fiend as the only one of them, who couldn't immediately do something about his injuries. But he had an item to make himself invisible so he now used it to get out of the most dangerous zone in this fight. Abaddon attacked as soon as he could move again and Huskar realized that he had forgotten the missile, when it hit him, stunning him again. He watched the fight in front of him, without being able to engage, and cursed again. He was near death now because there hadn't been enough time between the two stuns for him to activate his healing or his Armlet. Luckily enough the Lord of Avernus had a spell to heal as well as well as this sphere, which shielded him from damage, and with it he helped Huskar. But it was still close for him since the gargoyle was attacking him. He was the only one though and as soon as Huskar could move again he countered the attack.

He was panting hard, his body bleeding from several wounds and if the stun had lasted one more second he definitely would have been dead. But now his attack speed was fabulous and with the Armlet and his life steal he was actually able to hold his own against the gargoyle. He seemed perplexed when Huskar started to fight back with such force and Huskar could see the second he knew he had no chance. But the gargoyle wasn't alone. He had his two familiars with him and - why was he not surprised - they _stunned_ him. The gargoyle retreated from the centre of the fight but started attacking the Lord of Avernus from farther back. His ability to give him back life had already triggered but the enemy heroes had been clever enough to stop hitting him then and he hadn't been able to restore all his health. It had been enough, though and he was, together with the Phantom Assassin, going for the rhino.

Just like in the fights before, the golem had saved his avalanche for the moment the magic immunity of the Assassin faded. It hit the two of them but now Huskar could move again. His body was already running while his mind was still overlooking the whole battle. He cast his healing ability on the woman, hoping the life steal would be enough for him. The Armlet had given him strength and he used that strength well. He went for the rhino first, since he had taken more damage, his spears flying in rapid succession. The rhino changed his focus, but too late. He cast his wave in Huskar's direction but the magic resistance, achieved through his missing health, definitely saved him from the impact of its magic. Huskar grinned at the beast while hurling one last spear, piercing the heart of the rhino, the shaft of the weapon vibrating while it was already lodged in his chest. Blood poured out of the wound, the beast staggered back and then he sank onto his front legs, before crashing face first onto the ground.

Huskar didn't have time to enjoy his kill, because he had forgotten the forest man. He appeared behind him, even behind the tower, and cast a square of trees around him, blocking his way in every direction. Then he started to attack him and, damn, did that hurt. Huskar looked for the Pugna, but couldn't see him anywhere. He hadn't seen him through the whole fight and felt a little uneasy about it now. The nature man at his back could only mean the worst: they had not checked on their support and the druid had taken advantage of that fact to kill the skeleton without interference. It must've been an easy kill for him. And now he started to do the same with Huskar. The difference was, Huskar was no support. And the trees around him were no handicap since the man was in leaping distance. He prepared and jumped, his spear ready to strike the enemy. He attacked the druid, who was now injured from Huskar's jump at him but the man was strong. He didn't back down but kept attacking him and Huskar was too injured to have a real chance. The man had had nearly all his health when he had started to go for Huskar while he had already taken lots of damage from the fight around him.

He just tried to give a good fight now, so maybe one of his allied heroes would be able to take the druid down. And then, from the corner of his eye, he saw the Shadow Fiend. He hadn't run away while invisible but had just stayed back and was now coming to help Huskar. The nature man wasn't able to react fast enough, when first a splash of demon fire hit him and then the Fiend started to throw fire ball after fire ball at him. Huskar never stopped attacking and together they really killed the man.

Two down.

They turned around to see what was happening behind their back, but it looked rather good. The Phantom Assassin was chasing someone into the woods but she seemed to be okay. The Lord of Avernus didn't follow her but turned around and headed back into town. Huskar stared into the direction the Assassin had vanished but he was still too heavily injured to be of big help so he just remained where he was, under the tower, and waited. The Shadow Fiend gave him a strange look but said nothing and instead headed into town as well.

When the Phantom Assassin appeared between the trees, her form blurred and her body blending with the shadows around her, blood was dropping from her weapon and she had a dagger in her other hand. But she seemed to be okay, no injuries visible. She tugged her dagger away and looked Huskar over. "What are you still doing here? You should be in town, regenerating."

"Well, I thought I could wait in case you needed help." He indicated her weapon, red drops still forming on the blade and dripping to the ground, leaving coloured streaks on the metal. "As I can see, you were clearly capable enough on your own."

"And you had doubts about that?" Her arrogance was obvious on her pretty face, as was her annoyance about him questioning her capability in killing.

He knew it was not very wise, but he just couldn't contain his laugh. Grinning at her he shook his head. "No, I didn't doubt it. I've seen you fight and I'm sure two heavily injured and fleeing heroes are no challenge for you. I just stayed here for my own sake because I feel better when I know you are okay."

Now she only looked confused. "Why?"

Huskar wanted to answer but he realized that he didn't know why. So he merely shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I feel responsible for your wellbeing since you labelled me as your support. It kind of is my job. I only know that I have the impulse to look after you from time to time."

She didn't say anything to that but when a group of soldiers passed them she joined them on their way up the road in the direction of the enemy tower. Huskar accompanied her. He had to regenerate but he could do that as well by attacking enemy soldiers and gaining health with his life steal. And since most enemy heroes were dead they could help their soldiers and maybe destroy the enemy tower.

"How many enemy heroes did you get in your pursuit?"

"Two. The gargoyle got away because he was the fastest and least injured and I had to calculate which ones would be easier and especially faster to take down to make me able to get another kill."

Only one enemy hero had survived the fight. That was definitely a good outcome.


	8. Chapter 7

With the next wave of enemy soldiers in attack range, Huskar was able to regenerate some of his health. The Phantom Assassin kept looking at him out of the corner of her eyes and it made him strangely uneasy.

They destroyed the enemy tower without any problems and their soldiers ventured on. They headed back though, because they could easily be attacked from out of the woods to their right.

When the Phantom Assassin looked at him again, letting her gaze travel up and down his body while her face betrayed nothing of her thoughts, he stopped. Oddly enough she stopped as well and turned towards him. Somehow their relationship had changed during the last battles. Huskar thought it had begun with him apologizing to her for grabbing and hurling her away from a fight. After that the fights had gotten better, the two of them acting together and not separate.

It didn't really matter, though, as long as it was working now. He wasn't as on edge around her as at the beginning of the war and he could trust her to participate in a fight, now. Those two things had made him loose the hesitation he had developed occasionally.

The Phantom Assassin was still staring at him, clearly waiting for him to say something, to explain why he had stopped.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that out of the corner of your eye? It is awfully disturbing."

She was quite for a second before answering. "I find it strangely fascinating how your skin colour changes depending on your health. The dark blue makes you look even more dangerous and fearsome. It's gorgeous."

"It's _what_?" Huskar was sure he hadn't heard right because in no way could she have just called him gorgeous. And it such a neutral tone, as if simply stating a fact everybody should know.

"Gorgeous. It's gorgeous." She repeated. "No need to get irritated about it. Judging from the tales I have heard I'm not the first female to tell you this."

Now Huskar was totally flustered. She had heard about him? And what the hell had she been told, because no one had said anything similar to _him_ before. Of course he had gotten some female attention over the years, he was attractive after all, but _this_ was definitely new to him. Still baffled he shook his head and the Phantom Assassin raised her eyebrows.

"Come on, Sacred Warrior, no one ever told you that? That definitely explains why you are not as arrogant as I thought you would be. Some kind of I'm-better-than-you-all type who always thinks he is right and everyone else is wrong. Maybe even a little macho about it."

His jaw dropped open in shock. What the hell was that? She had thought _he_ would be arrogant? _She_? There must be something seriously wrong with the tales going round about him. But it also made it clear why she had ignored him at the beginning of the war.

The Phantom Assassin laughed at his expression. "Well, it seems I have misjudged you. I'm sorry about that. No come, gorgeous, lets meet the others. We have a war to win."

Huskar could still hear her laughing softly as she continued walking. He took a moment to process their encounter, her telling him he was gorgeous with his changed skin colour, her prejudice based on some tales about him, her laugh and, hell surely must have frozen over, her apology to him. It seemed he had misjudged her as well and all because she had been told something about him that wasn't true. They could've had such a good start into this war if they had had a neutral relationship towards each other. Too late to think about that, now, especially since the whole situation had taken a turn for the better anyway.

 _No wonder her behaviour changed after my apology. Makes sense now._

He ran after the Phantom Assassin, who was still smiling when he reached her.

"I won't complain about you calling me gorgeous, but I do have a name, you know."

"Oh, I've heard. But calling you by your name is a little too personal, don't you think?"

"And calling me gorgeous isn't?"

"Well, I could call everyone that. It's just a word."

Huskar grinned. "I would love to see how the Lord of Abaddon would react if you called him that. I'm sure he has never been called gorgeous in his whole life. Care to amuse me?"

"Do I look as if I'm here to your amusement?"

Huskar let his gaze travel from her boots over her shapely and muscular legs, encased by tight pants, her ass looking firm and biteable. Then farther up, over her flat stomach and her breasts, which seemed to be just the right size for his hands. Her shoulders looked wider than they were with the armour the Assassin was wearing and though her face was not completely visible under her helmet Huskar could see her small but straight nose, her slightly tilted, green eyes, highlighted by the shape of her helmet. Her high cheekbones and slender face made her look very feminine until one realized her fierce expression. But since it had changed with her laugh she now was really beautiful, the freckles on her nose even giving her something cute.

Huskar's grin got even wider. Damn, _did_ she look like she was here to his amusement. She must have realized the meaning under his grin, because her cheeks darkened a little, like a blush, and Huskar chuckled and refrained from answering her question. They entered their town, Huskar heading into the safe zone for a little regeneration and the Phantom Assassin coordinated with the Lord of Avernus and the Pugna, who were standing at the entrance from the bottom road.

When Huskar left the safe zone only the Assassin was still under the tower at the entrance, the others had obviously already left. He joined her and together they headed out. "We thought it was most likely for the enemy to attack at the bottom road, since it is the only first tower we still have and they will probably want to destroy it next. When we got them, we can try to go for their second tower on that road."

"I'm ready."

The enemy heroes were already gathering in front of second tower, which meant first tower was down. They kept their distance, though, as if they were unsure how to proceed. That would be their death.

The Shadow Fiend activated his invisibility and circled through the woods into their backs. There he stood and waited, giving them vision over the whole enemy team. The golem and the gargoyle were standing a little back, now near the Fiend while the rhino and the man on the flying device were more at the front. The nature man was a little off to the side and enchanted some trees out of the woods into tree-soldiers, who followed his command and started attacking the soldiers and the tower.

The Phantom Assassin took a second to survey the positions of the enemy before she announced she would go in. "I focus on the rhino and at least one of you should go for the rhino as well, the rest maybe first for the flying man, since he is not very strong but has that annoying missiles. Ready?"

Without waiting for an actual answer, she hurled her dagger at the flying man while jumping at the rhino, the magic immunity visible as a yellow light floating around her body. Without hesitation they all followed and since they could see the forest mage they wouldn't be surprised by him again. Huskar leaped at the man on the flying device, a burning spear in his hand. He didn't look what the others were doing but someone must be helping him because it was ridiculously easy to kill the man.

Next to him he saw the Phantom Assassin finish the rhino off and together they went forward, looking for the next victim. But the other three were already retreating. Huskar looked over their group and cast his heal onto the Shadow Fiend. He had started to attack when he had still been standing between the enemy and he had taken quite some damage.

They pushed forward together with a group of their soldiers, looking for the enemy heroes but since only three were still alive they didn't really expect to encounter them.

Huskar was grinning as he ran forward, side to side with the Phantom Assassin, their soldiers right behind them and at the two sides their allied heroes, the Pugna staying a little back and the Shadow Fiend scouting to the side. Abaddon was with the Pugna.

In contrast to Huskar's joy about their success the Phantom Assassin showed absolutely no emotion. She was focused as always, her face expressionless and blank. But when she noticed him looking at her she winked at him and cast a downright cute half smile in his direction. That made Huskar grin even wider.

They had the tower destroyed within seconds, the enemy soldiers taken down without pause in their stride. As soon as the building crumpled into a pile of stones they headed back. They wouldn't push further because until now the two heroes they had killed were probably back and they decided not to take the fight at this place where they could easily be surprised.

When they reached the way down to the stream they followed the water. To the right a black pit appeared, shadows clouding the inside of that pit. They all knew what was inside though, namely a beast called Roshan, a giant creature whose dead body released a stone that could resurrect a hero within second at the place he had died. Therefore this creature was rather hard to kill but the price was worth the effort. Since they were all five together, it would be no problem for them to get the stone and they entered the pit.

The creature was really huge. It had claws and horns and fangs and they were, even in comparison to the size of its body, huge. It had dark skin that was hard to pierce and more than two eyes. Its vulnerable parts were shielded by horned appendages of its skin to make it harder to hurt it.

As soon as they were within reach, the beast attacked them, growling low and threatening in its throat, hitting them with his sharp claws. It didn't matter because it wasn't strong enough for the five of them and really, after the killing blow was delivered, it transformed into a yellow and red stone, the size of a fist. There was no discussion about who would get the stone. The Phantom Assassin took it and, after examining it shortly, she placed it into a pocket at her hip. Regardless of where she put it, when she died it would trigger and resurrect her on the spot, slowing all enemies in her vicinity for a few seconds.

It also meant she would initiate the next fight because her death would gain the enemy nothing. Her first death, anyway.

They went out of the pit and up to the middle road. The enemy heroes should all be resurrected by now and they would surely expect them.


	9. Chapter 8

The Shadow Fiend scouted ahead while the Pugna stayed back a little bit so he wouldn't be the first the enemy attacked. Huskar didn't pay attention to him anymore but concentrated on what was happening in front of him.

They had reached second tower of the enemy and he could see the gargoyle and the golem behind it running from side to side. The other three were suspiciously absent. But when Huskar realised how strange that was and turned around, it was already too late. The forest man had teleported behind them and he had caged the Pugna in the square of trees while some of the trees he could summon and operate were on their way to attack Huskar from behind. He had done all that in nearly absolute silence and before Huskar could absorb what was happening and prepare to leap at the man, the skeleton was already dead, the druid having cast something that twined from the earth, damaging them all.

Before Huskar could jump, he was already gone again, having vanished probably with the same item the Shadow Fiend possessed, which could make the owner invisible for a short period of time.

Since it was too late to do anything for the Pugna and the forest man was gone, Huskar countered the attack of the trees. That done he switched his focus to his allied heroes and the tower and saw that something must have gone seriously wrong. The Shadow Fiend was nowhere to be seen and the Lord of Avernus was currently clouded in the green glow that showed his ability to get back life in proportion to the damage he took was on, but no enemy hero was attacking him. They waited for the second the glow faded before going at him again, the stunning missile from the man on the flying device the first thing that hit him. The only one who seemed to be rather unperturbed by everything was the Phantom Assassin, though she was surrounded by the enemy heroes.

Her magic immunity was on and she was attacking the golem at the moment. The gargoyle had already died, his body lying at the base of the tower, but the other three were barely wounded and now the forest mage appeared out of the woods.

Huskar ran forward and decided to focus on the man on the flying device again. But just when he wanted to leap, the man vanished. Damn it, had they all built this stupid item to go invisible? Huskar growled and switched to the golem to help the Assassin.

He jumped and attacked and though the golem had this ability that mini-stunned everyone who attacked him, he was dead before he could land another hit. But now they were standing next to each other and the rhino, though he had been attacking the Lord of Avernus, reacted exactly at the moment when they were close enough together. He had clearly been waiting for it and rushed forward, casting his stun so it affected Huskar and The Phantom Assassin. The flying man appeared again and he, too, had saved his spell, the one with the falling bombs, which hit them full on since they couldn't move.

The Lord of Avernus tried to get away, aware of the fact he had no chance as wounded as he was. He might be able to get away because all three remaining enemy heroes were focused on him and the Assassin now. Still immobilized, Huskar couldn't use the advantage of his heightened attack speed due to his lost health and a few hits from the forest man were enough to kill him. And it had been going really good so far! But the druid had picked their weakest hero and killed him, even distracting Huskar from the fight in front of him. In the worst case they would be able to kill the Phantom Assassin as well, now.

When Huskar resurrected in the safe zone the Pugna and the Shadow Fiend were just leaving and Huskar followed without pause. They must have lost their second tower and third tower because the enemy soldiers were attacking the barracks just inside of the town. The enemy heroes must have retreated after destroying the towers. Maybe they had been too afraid after seeing the first hero coming out of the safe zone to stay.

Totally unhappy with the outcome of their fight he went for the enemy soldiers. He hadn't seen the Lord of Avernus and the Phantom Assassin and was wondering if they hadn't resurrected, yet, or if they were farming in the woods somewhere. His question was answered when they appeared from out of town. Damn, they had been able to kill all five of them, the Assassin even two times, and destroy two towers after the fight.

They started to push forward again, to get the soldiers away from town. The death of the Assassin meant she had lost the stone from the beast Roshan and they didn't have that advantage anymore. With their next attack they had to outsmart the enemy, focus on another target and don't let the Pugna alone at the back.

Alongside Huskar the Phantom Assassin was running. "That last fight didn't go well. Where were you? You joined way too late."

"I tried to help the Pugna but was of no use there. I know I should've concentrated on the main fight."

"Since it isn't the first time that mage has taken the Pugna at a disadvantage from his point of view he must look for a better position during our fights. And you have to take a different target than me to get a little space between us. The rhino has been waiting just for the right moment to use his ability and we played exactly into his hands when we stood that close together. "

Huskar nodded. It wasn't as if he didn't know that, he had just reacted on impulse and it had been the wrong reaction.

When the Phantom Assassin stopped to let the soldiers pass her, he stopped, too. She turned to him and grabbed his arm. "We have to beware the rhino. He is the most dangerous enemy hero. Either we attack him first or we have to avoid giving him an opening for his stun. Maybe you should go for him, because you have some kind of magic resistance. If you can distract him I can take the others."

Huskar grimaced. It sounded way too much like a suicide commando. Jump at the rhino, take all the damage from his abilities and keep him from attacking the others. But he nodded because he knew it could work. Another fight like the one before would mean they were on a straight way in loosing this war. And besides, that way he could prevent the rhino from attacking and killing the Assassin and that was worth a suicide commando.

The soldiers were ahead of them now and she turned to follow them. "Phantom Assassin." She looked back at him. "We will rock this fight. And win this war."

She smiled and took a step towards him, entering his personal space. Then she leaned close, one hand resting on his shoulder, her cheek nearly brushing the side of his helmet, and whispered in his ear. Her breath on his skin made goose bumps rise all over his body and he shivered slightly. "My name is Mortred."

Before he could even process what she had just told him, she was gone, the faint scent of leather hovering around him the only thing remaining. Huskar shivered again and inhaled deeply, to get that little underlying smell of the woman underneath the leather but just like her it was already gone.

 _The Phantom Assassin with the name._ He had heard about her. Sometimes someone would whisper her name, in fear of saying it out loud. Damn, but she was some kind of legend. The most famous one in the guild of assassins, the one who was called to do the most difficult of jobs, the most skilled one. And the only one who _dared keep a name_.

He was still standing rooted to the spot when the Pugna turned around and called him. Now he had to hurry to catch up but just as he started running he saw the nature man porting in, right behind the skeleton. He was as silent as before and the Pugna didn't seem to realise the danger approaching. This time Huskar saw him and he had that split second while the man was arriving to prepare himself.

His spear burning he jumped at the man exactly the second he became corporal, and astonished the Pugna following his leap with his eyes. But the skeleton reacted quickly when he saw the forest mage. He immediately joined the attack and the man activated his invisibility without being able to do damage to either of them and retreated. He would be back but for now the skeleton was safe.

They looked at each other, the skeleton nodding a "thank you" at him and they started running. They couldn't see their allied heroes but it didn't take them long to catch up. Huskar already feared for the worst but the fight hadn't started yet.

The Phantom Assassin, Mortred, had clearly been waiting for him because as soon as she saw him she threw her dagger and without further delay she attacked, the sphere that had surrounded the Lord of Avernus in the previous fights now around her. The Shadow Fiend and Abaddon must've been prepared for it because they joined without pause and Huskar had to hurry. He couldn't leap at the rhino because the ability wasn't ready, yet, so he had to run up to him.

He dodged the gargoyle, who was at the front, and ignored the man on the flying device to his right, totally focused on the beast waiting for the ideal moment to attack. That moment wouldn't come, though, because Huskar engaged him now. He just hoped that the others would be able to deal with the golem, the gargoyle and the flying man alone and that the forest man would keep away for a little while. And that no one else attacked him. It was hard enough to fight against the rhino alone.

The beast was strong but when Huskar's health dropped and his attack speed increased he was able to hold out against him. And then, just like they had wanted, he cast his stunning-ability at Huskar. He would've been pleased about it didn't it mean that he would die. He was totally prepared when the healing spell from the Lord of Avernus hit him and the Assassin appeared beside him, going for the rhino, who tried to head back into town no, as long as Huskar was immobilized.

As soon as he could move again he let his gaze sweep his surroundings to check the situation. It looked good though, the tower gone, the Lord of Avernus behind him, and the only enemy in sight the retreating rhino. So he took a moment to heal, waiting for the Assassin to return. She wouldn't need him in her chase and the Lord of Avernus was going with her as well. He saw the Shadow Fiend leave the woods on his left and joined him.

"How did it go?" he asked the demon.

He shrugged, the spikes on his shoulders moving and the claws on his hands flexing, as if looking for something to grab. "The golem and the gargoyle dead. Didn't get the mage and the flying man got away. What's with the beast?"

"The Phantom Assassin is after him. I would say his chances are not very high. Where is the Pugna?"

"Don't know. Haven't seen him." With that he turned and headed in the direction of the enemy town. Huskar followed because when most of the enemy heroes were dead they could as well try to destroy another tower and maybe some of the barracks behind it at the entrance of the town. They had to be quick but it could work.

The Phantom Assassin and the Lord of Avernus were already attacking the building together with some of their soldiers and it wouldn't take long to destroy the building. The Shadow Fiend and Huskar joined them.

From time to time they could see the man on the flying device or the forest man in the town, keeping their distance and clearly not able to go against the four of them. The mage sent some of his trees, though, and the flying man cast his stunning missile. It didn't faze them in the least and when the man in the flying device came into attack range, the Assassin threw her dagger. It hit the man full force, dealing critical damage, and the woman immediately followed her weapon. She landed a few great hits, killing the man before anyone of them could react. The forest man cast the square of trees, trapping her inside, but she just jumped out of it, ignoring the man standing next to the heart of his town. Instead she went for the barracks behind the tower, which they had destroyed by now.

When the barracks in the enemy town at this entrance were destroyed it would grant a boost to their soldiers on the middle road. They would become stronger and bigger than the enemy soldiers, making it easier to kill the enemy soldiers on the road on which the barracks had been.

As soon as the two buildings were down, they headed back. They had achieved what they had wanted, even more, and could gather to start on one of the other roads anew.


	10. Chapter 9

It was possible to go for the heart of the town now that the tower at the entrance and the barracks behind it on one road were destroyed. But first, they would get more money if they destroyed all remaining towers and second, it was easier when all barracks were destroyed and their soldiers got even stronger and bigger.

They headed back into town to regenerate and look for the Pugna. No one knew if he had died or if he had been able to escape. Huskar thanked the Lord of Avernus for his heal, since it had saved him. Then the Assassin asked him: "Why didn't you jump at the rhino?"

"The Pugna and I had a situation at the back where I needed to use the jump. I couldn't use it that soon again."

"Okay, I was wondering." Then she smiled at him. "But it worked, didn't it? I don't know if we'll be able to do the same again, but for this time it was good. You were good."

That elicited a grin from Huskar. "Thanks. I have to say though, I was sure it was a suicide attempt from my side. I'm more than glad that it wasn't." He looked at the Phantom Assassin, who had barely a scratch on her body from the fight. Either she hadn't even been wounded or she had healed with life steal from one of her items. "I would say you have fought well, too, according to your state of injuries, but I didn't have time to look at you during the battle."

"I got three kills. That speaks for itself, don't you think?"

"Wow, you are really owning this war, aren't you? I'm impressed."

"Why? You didn't think I could do it?" Her smile had vanished and her voice held a sharp edge to her words. It was as if his opinion mattered to her and it would hurt her if he'd think something like that. Of maybe she just didn't like if _anybody_ thought something like that, if she was disregarded, if someone thought her not capable enough.

"No, I knew you could. I have seen you fight and I know how good you are. I'm nonetheless impressed. Besides, I know who you are, now, and I have heard tales about you, though only ever in hushed tones. You are quite feared. People wouldn't be afraid of you for nothing." He shrugged. "I am sure we will win the war because of you."

"You are not afraid of me."

They had slowed down and the Lord of Avernus was in front of them now, far enough away to give them some privacy.

"No, why would I? First, we are allies and second …" He thought for a moment why he wasn't afraid of her and her reputation. Maybe he should, because she definitely could best him, if not in this war then surely when it was over and they had left the battle field. And not because _he_ was weak. "I think it is because I had a chance to get to know you before I knew who you are and because you are really cute sometimes and not in the least fearful, then."

She furrowed her brows and stopped in the middle of the road to look at him. "You think I'm cute?"

Huskar couldn't prevent a grin from spreading over his face, because damn did she look good when that little frown was crinkling the skin between her brows and her mouth was pursed like that.

"Yeah, I do. With the freckles on your lovely little nose…" when he dared to step closer and tap the tip of her nose with his finger, she frowned even harder, making Huskar grin only more, "you are rather adorable, especially when you frown like that."

"You do know I can kill you with one or two hits? Possibly even before you realise what's going on?"

That scared him not a whit. Laughing softly he shook his head. "I know you could, but you won't. Besides, I'm not _that_ easy to kill." He leaned closer again. "And you would be cute nonetheless."

The Phantom Assassin let out a long sigh. "I'm not sure, but I think you have a death wish taunting me like that."

A wave of soldiers parted around them on their way up the road and Huskar realized they were standing just next to the stream on the middle of the road, totally in the open and visible to anyone who might be near, even a bunch of enemy heroes.

His grin vanished and he brought more distance between him and Mortred. It felt strange to refer to the Assassin with a name. It was highly forbidden for the phantom assassins to maintain a name. They were like the shadows and everyone could take the place of the other, hiding their numbers from the outside. Not much was known about them and their missing identities made them even more mysterious.

That the woman in front of him got away with keeping her name told a very distinct story about her skill and her importance to the order of the assassins. He really shouldn't taunt her but he liked that he could irritate her and make her discard the mask of indifference and arrogance she always wore. It made her transform from the assassin into a woman and, damn, but that woman was gorgeous.

Huskar took another step back because suddenly this gorgeous woman in front of him was a temptation he didn't want to face. Her flawless skin and the dark hair that he just wanted to touch, the tiny freckles on her nose, those light green eyes staring at him, making her so unbelievably cute. And to make it worse, her lips parted slightly as she exhaled another deep breath, drawing his gaze to her mouth. She was beautiful and Huskar definitely appreciated a strong woman, but a phantom assassin was just a woman one wouldn't even _dare_ to desire. And the Phantom Assassin with the name…

With a last glance at the mouth that almost begged for a kiss, he turned away. "We should find the others and start a new attack." Silently Mortred fell into step alongside with him and they headed back into town. Their relationship had changed more and more with every battle and Huskar liked how easy they could talk with each other now.

At the entrance the Shadow Fiend was waiting and he regarded them with a strange look. "We are waiting for you."

Huskar just nodded and they followed the Fiend to the top road. Ahead of them Abaddon and the Pugna were already killing enemy soldiers and they were able to catch up with them quickly. They would try to destroy second tower on this road.

As soon as they had the woods to their right the Shadow Fiend used invisibility to scout under the trees while the others remained on the road with the soldiers. No enemy hero appeared and they were able to get the tower really quickly.

They discussed shortly to stay at the top road and push forward or to switch back to the bottom road because if the enemy was not here they were probably trying to destroy the tower there, since there was still a second tower.

In the end they decided to head back, not to save their tower, it would be gone anyway when the enemy had been there, but to avoid being surprised by the arrival of the enemy on the top road. They would just kill the beasts in the woods up here and go in the direction of the middle road. Maybe they would find the enemy heroes there and could sneak up at them through their woods.

But it was even better: they found one enemy hero alone in the forest, killing some of the creatures. It was the nature man and he was definitely not prepared for an encounter with them. He cast the square of trees around him, to block them from attacking him and used the invisibility from one of his items as well. The Pugna, as their support, was prepared for both of his actions, using one of his items to push himself forward, right through the trees around the druid, to stop near the place where he had to be standing invisible. Then he had bought Dust of Appearance, which he threw in the air next. This dust was a powder that spread wide and clung to everyone it came into contact with, thus making invisible creatures visible again by outlining their figures. It did the trick with the nature man inside his created cover of wood.

The Phantom Assassin ignored the trees and jumped right inside the square at the now visible druid. The Shadow Fiend cast some flames that did damage while the others just watched as the Assassin attacked the man, who was desperately trying to teleport away. He wasn't nearly fast enough and with a powerful hit of her curved blade the Phantom Assassin sliced through clothes, flesh and bones alike. The druid died as silently as he had appeared behind the small skeleton in the fights, the only sound made by his staff as it clattered onto the ground.

The square of trees vanished but the Phantom Assassin stayed were she was for a second, scanning the forest around her, looking as much as listening. But nobody appeared and they resumed their way to the middle road. Huskar realized this was how the Pugna had been able to get away from the druid a few times but it seemed the man had anticipated it when he had been able to kill the skeleton nonetheless.

They had to fight only four heroes now but they still had to be extremely careful because of the power the rhino wielded. And the golem was strong as well. Their advantage though was that the Pugna didn't have to be afraid of the forest man now and could fully engage in the battle in front of him. They only had to get to the four enemy heroes before the mage resurrected and participated again.

They neared the middle road and stopped at a place where they could see down onto the road in front of them. A wave of enemy soldiers passed but no enemy hero was in sight. Maybe they were still at the bottom road but maybe they had headed back after they had destroyed another tower. They had to be as weary with the woods on their side as vice versa.

"I go down and bait them. Maybe they will attack me when I'm alone and you can go in." the Lord of Avernus said. The Shadow Fiend activated his invisibility and began scouting their surroundings. The other three remained where they were and monitored the movements of the Lord, his sphere around his body, keeping an eye on the trees on the other side of the road.

They didn't see it coming though. Suddenly the gargoyle went flying through the air, landing on the Lord of Avernus and attacking him immediately. His familiars followed right behind him and the rhino came charging through the trees, head bent low, and pushed the Lord of Avernus a few feet down the road. The attack had only just begun, but the Lord of Avernus was already severely injured.

"Go!"

Without waiting for them, the Phantom Assassin jumped. She activated her magic immunity, the protection shimmering as a yellow glow surrounding her body, and went for the rhino first. The Pugna began attacking as well and Huskar, seeing the golem appearing behind the trees, decided not to go for the same enemy but try to distract the golem and probably the man on the flying device, since he was sure that he had to be around as well. He just hoped the Shadow Fiend would join the fight soon. He prepared and leaped at the golem before he reached the Assassin. Just as he had wanted, the creature countered his attack, changing his focus onto Huskar. And when the man on the flying device left the shadows of the trees, he went for Huskar as well.

Huskar had a hard fight against those two and activated his healing ability, though it would probably not save him in the end. He had also activated his Armlet of Mordiggian, to grant him more strength, but that was about all he could do in addition to his normal attacks. The Pugna, the Lord of Avernus and the Phantom Assassin now had only two enemies against them and judging from what he had seen about the Assassin that was no problem for her.

Out from the corner of his eyes Huskar saw the gargoyle retreating into town, meaning it must be going good for his allies. He decided it would be a good time to retreat as well, and if only a little to be out of the focus. He turned and heard a soft whoosh as a dagger flew past him, so near it almost cut him. But it was as precise as ever and the sound at his back told him it had found its mark, giving him the opportunity to get away by slowing whomever it had hit.

Huskar was bleeding from several wounds but when Mortred and Abaddon attacked the golem, he stopped and turned back. The rhino was lying on the ground, his body covered in blood and his weapon lying several feet away from him. He let out a relieved breath, but too soon. The two familiars from the gargoyle where still around and they neared him from behind. Before he could attack them, one stunned him. He didn't even have time to activate his healing ability and the others were still fighting in front of him so when the second familiar attacked him, he could only stand there while it delivered blow after blow, his heightened attack speed gaining him nothing. He was dead way before the stun period ended. A split second before the last shot from the familiar hit him, the Phantom Assassin turned in his direction and the last image he had was the shock on her normally expressionless face. It seemed she even wanted to change her focus to help him, but for that it was too late and Huskar just hoped she was sensible enough to finish the enemy heroes in front of her off instead of following a lost cause.


	11. Chapter 10

In the safe zone Huskar wasted no time and headed directly out again. Maybe they were still in front of the enemy base and if so they would need his help. But just as he left the town the Phantom Assassin appeared on the road. She jumped in front of him and standing really close now, she did something completely confusing. She dropped her blade, clearly not caring what happened to the weapon as it fell to the ground, and then she hugged him. Hard.

Huskar was totally perplexed and it took him a few seconds to realize what she was doing and to react to it. Her body was pressed against his and he could feel every inch of her. She had slung her arms around his neck, which wasn't easy because of his shoulder armour and his helmet, and she had leaned her forehead against the leather on his shoulders. Huskar took a deep breath, the smell of leather and woman wafting around him, and that made him relax finally. He abandoned his battle stance, which made him taller and Mortred had to shift a little, but she still didn't release him. So Huskar dropped his spear as well and slung his now free arm around her hip, pressing her even closer.

It was awkward and rather uncomfortable, since her armour was as much in the way as his, especially her wide shoulder pauldron, but she seemed to need the hug and who was Huskar to deny her something like that? It wasn't as if he didn't enjoy the feel of her muscled body against his skin, the clothes on her body not hiding her form in the least.

She stepped away from him rather suddenly and a tiny blush was darkening her cheeks. "Sorry. That… that won't happen again. I kind of overreacted after seeing you die in the fight." She looked at his feet instead of his eyes and then hastily grabbed her weapon from the ground. When she wanted to run past him, Huskar grabbed her arm, reacting on pure instinct now. No way would he let her go like that. As if hugging someone was something to be _sorry_ about.

"Wait." She still didn't look at him and he said the first things that sprang into his head. "I really hope you _will_ do that again. It was rather nice to feel your beautiful breast against my chest. I wouldn't complain in the least to feel them again." The blush on her cheeks darkened but she didn't try to run any further and Huskar grinned. "Maybe next time you could take your helmet off and your shoulder armour, that would make it even more pleasurable. Of course I would take my helmet off as well." He leaned closer to her, tuning his voice down to a whisper. "I would love to bury my nose in your neck, to feel your skin against my mouth and your hair slide against my face. You could touch me, because, damn, I would like to feel those elegant hands of yours on every inch of my body."

Huskar wasn't sure if he was on the right track, if she would appreciate him talking to her like that. And before this absolutely uncharacteristic hug of hers he would've never _dared_ to suggest such a thing to the most powerful and deadly of assassins. But something had shifted and he had the _need_ to talk to her like that. To let her know how he felt. Maybe she would skin him later but maybe she wouldn't. And that second maybe seemed the more likely one, now.

Especially when she looked at him from under her lashes, the tiniest of smiles playing around her mouth. And just before she jumped at a wave of soldiers that had started their way out of town, leaving Huskar standing alone in the middle of the road, she answered with a whispered: "Next time."

He shuddered, because that had definitely sounded like a promise. He wanted to follow her, but when he looked in the direction of the enemy town he saw the Lord of Avernus, the Pugna and the Shadow Fiend coming his way. And it looked as if they were being chased.

That wasn't good. He couldn't see Mortred anymore but if all five enemy heroes were behind them, they needed her help. "Phantom Assassin!" He just hoped she would hear his call. Then he took his spear from the ground and positioned himself a little to the side in the shadows of some trees. And waited. Since he couldn't see the enemy heroes they wouldn't have seen him hide and he could surprise them. Then they appeared in his field of vision, the gargoyle and the golem first, right behind them the man on the flying device and the rhino. The nature man wasn't around, yet. Since he could teleport, his arrival was to be expected sooner rather than later.

The Shadow Fiend activated his invisibility and turned into the woods, away from the road. He wasn't injured that bad and he would surely not go far to be of use in case of a fight. The Lord of Avernus was nearer to the enemies, he probably wanted to bear the brunt of their attack, since he could take it in contrast to the Pugna. But even he wasn't invincible and he wouldn't survive against the four, or maybe five, of them.

Huskar took a tiny step back, to stay in the shadows and it was a good idea, since the rhino now jumped and landed between the Pugna and the Lord of Avernus, nearly in front of Huskar. They must have planned their attack strategy because the golem had already taken the gargoyle and thrown him at the skeleton. With that they had successfully stopped their escape.

The man on the flying device was now near enough to launch his stunning missile and the rhino cast the stun from his on the Lord of Avernus. It only hit the Lord because the Pugna was too far away, as was Huskar.

The Shadow Fiend appeared behind Huskar. "Phantom Assassin is making herself ready to jump. See? We go in."

Huskar saw the blurred form of Mortred appear on the entrance to the town. The Fiend was right, she would go in. So would he. Totally ignoring the gargoyle and the rhino, Huskar looked for the man on the flying device. He would definitely be his target again.

Before he jumped he looked back at the Phantom Assassin. She was still standing at the same spot and stared at him. The self-confidence and the self-assuredness she normally emitted up to the point where it appeared like arrogance had totally vanished. If he didn't know better, Huskar would say she was afraid. Whatever the reason for her hesitation was, it was the wrong time for it. The invisibility of the Shadow Fiend wouldn't last much longer and the Lord of Avernus was currently facing all five enemy heroes alone. But he couldn't do much about if from where he was standing. So he just smiled and tried to put _his_ confidence and assuredness into that smile, kind of like sharing it with her. She seemed to relax a little bit under his smile and Huskar grinned. Maybe the Phantom Assassin never ever was afraid for herself but it just looked as if she could be afraid for others. In this case, for him. Damn, but it felt good to matter to her.

And, with that grin still on his face, he leaped at the flying man without further hesitation. He had to look like a maniac, grinning like that and flying through the air and the man clearly was surprised by his appearance. He needed a second to switch his focus, away from the Lord of Avernus and onto Huskar, who was now the more imminent threat to his life. Behind him he could hear the sounds of fighting without being able to perceive who was going to prevail.

He used his healing ability on himself and when the man on the flying device began to retreat he didn't follow but turned around, scanning the battle. The Lord of Avernus wasn't there but the Phantom Assassin was right in the middle. She was heavily injured but her magic immunity was still surrounding her. All four enemy heroes were around her and even without their magic they were able to do lots of damage. Without hesitation Huskar joined the fight, first using his burning spear to do more damage, condoning the loss of health it meant for him.

The burning spears hit the rhino, the gargoyle and the golem, making them burn for a while. The nature man was too far behind the Assassin for him to attack and the Shadow Fiend was going for him anyway. Then Huskar focused on one enemy hero, deciding to go for the rhino because he did too much damage for his liking. The beast ignored him completely. It seemed like they were desperately trying to kill the Phantom Assassin and if they couldn't kill them quickly they would definitely succeed.

Huskar growled low in his throat. Mortred's eyes flickered in his direction. And just as the magic immunity faded, she jumped, landing in front of him. Stepping next to him she hurled a dagger at the rhino to slow his approach, since the enemy heroes had reacted damn quickly to the re-positioning of the Phantom Assassin. But it gave them more time, and they used it. The Shadow Fiend did a lot of damage and the Pugna, though injured, came closer to the fight again. Only the Lord of Avernus was missing, but since the man on the flying device had retreated as well, the odds were even.

Three of the four enemy heroes went for the Phantom Assassin again, only the forest mage switched his focus, since he was farthest away from the woman and seemed not to be willing to risk following her with the Shadow Fiend at his back. Healing the Phantom Assassin, Huskar didn't have time to keep an eye on the Fiend. He kept attacking the rhino instead, in between his normal attacks throwing a few burning spears. The beast was almost down but he kept going for the Assassin, clearly wanting to take her with him. One of his waves hit her, though it only did minor damage to Huskar, due to his heightened magic resistance.

The three enemy heroes surrounded them but the Shadow Fiend and the Pugna joined the fight around them, too. Either they had killed the mage or he had been able to escape. It didn't look that good though, because now the avalanche from the golem hit Huskar and the Phantom Assassin, stunning them and nearly killing the woman. Huskar's healing hadn't been able to give her that much health back and now she couldn't even use the life steal from one of her items because she was unable to attack.

Nothing to do about that now, Huskar thought. And even if it was damn hard to stand by, unable to save her, the only thing he could do was keeping attacking the rhino and hoping by some miracle that she would survive.

Huskar's heart pounded heavy in his chest and his blood rushed through his body. He felt the desperate need to help Mortred, even preferring to give his life to save hers. He was afraid to look in her direction in fear of seeing her dead body lying on the ground. And though he could fight from a greater distance by throwing his spear, he stepped in front of the enemy heroes, between them and the Assassin, trying to serve as some kind of shield for her.

The rhino snorted and lowered his head, his enormous horn pointing directly at Huskar now. Then he ran forward, pushing Huskar with him, past the Phantom Assassin, who was still alive, barely, but could move again. In the following seconds she was just plain lucky: she threw her dagger at the rhino again, dealing massive damage with a lucky critical hit. Then she jumped at the beast and with one last strike with her blade she hit his major artery, killing him in a splash of blood.

Her face didn't show the least bit of emotion over such a bloody and definitely lucky kill or over the fact she now had gained some health back with her life steal. She just turned around and looked at the two remaining heroes, the gargoyle and the golem. They were both injured and were now facing the four of them alone which seemed not to be something they wanted. They turned to the woods and vanished between the trees in a second. Since they were all wounded they decided not to chase them, especially since the man on the flying device and, as the Pugna said, the mage as well, could still be around.

On their way to the safe zone the Lord of Avernus appeared. He had been able to get away and had been regenerating. He joined the Pugna and, talking with the skeleton, headed back into the safe zone with them.


	12. Chapter 11

In the safe zone Huskar took a deep breath and tried to calm down. His heart was still beating way too fast. Without a word Mortred positioned herself next to him and together they waited until they were fully healed. Her presence seemed to ease Huskar. It had been a shock for him to see her this heavily injured, but of course that could happen. They fought in a war here and it was absolutely normal to take damage or to die. Even in the world outside of this town wars Huskar was sure she had been injured more than once. That was who she was, though she probably, in the real world even more so, tried to remain in the shadows and only attack from behind, killing the victim without ever being seen and never searching an open confrontation. But that wouldn't avert a fight from time to time and a fight always meant injuries.

It wasn't even the first time he had seen her injured, he had saved her often enough now from near death, but it was the first time since their relationship had changed and they no longer hated each other.

What he still admired about that battle was how absolutely cool she had been throughout it, even when she had been nearly dead or when she had been surrounded by four enemy heroes all focused on killing her. She had not panicked once and in the end she had survived. She was one hell of a rational fighter, always focused and precise. Damn, but he was impressed.

He snuck a glance at her from the side and their gazes collided. They stared at each other until the Shadow Fiend disrupted them.

"That's a fucking joke, right? We are in a war and you are making lovey-dovey eyes at each other?" He growled low in his throat. "No wonder we lost that battle. Maybe you should concentrate on fighting instead looking at each other all the time." Then he headed out, muttering something like "fucking noobs".

Huskar scowled at the leaving demon. He was absolutely exaggerating things, wasn't he? As if they were falling in love with each other… How absurd. He glanced at Mortred again but her face was without any emotion. When she looked at him her eyes were cold and expressionless and Huskar's scowl deepened. He liked her smiling and blushing and frowning and not that blank look she was giving him now. Damn that demon and his words. Would she back away from him now to prove him wrong?

But then she leaned a little towards him and whispered:" I think we really have to concentrate a little more during the fights. Maybe we can delay the making lovey-dovey eyes until later." Then she winked at him and a smile flitted over her features before she altered them into blankness again. Huskar was momentarily speechless. Not only did she not care what the Shadow Fiend had said (which wasn't that big of a surprise), but she didn't _deny his words_. As if she thought they were true. Were they true? Their relationship had changed, but into that?

The Phantom Assassin went to follow the Shadow Fiend but when Huskar didn't join her directly she stopped at the entrance to the safe zone, her eyebrows raised. "You coming?"

With a grin on his face he followed her. She was really adorable and her I-don't-care-what-others-think attitude was kind of cool. He _had_ been holding back, shoving every feeling of attraction away.

Because, let's face it, she was an assassin, the phantom assassin with a name, and what suicidal male would ever dare make a pass at her? But he steadily got the impression that she wouldn't mind him making a pass at her. But first things first. They had to wage a war and Huskar was absolutely going for a win.

The Shadow Fiend, the Pugna and the Lord of Avernus had already gathered at the entrance to the town at the bottom road when the Phantom Assassin joined them. So they would go for second tower on this road. Together they headed out but met the first wave of enemy soldiers just at their second tower. For the five of them those few soldiers posed no problem and they made good progress.

When they didn't encounter the enemy heroes, they bought Scrolls of Town Portal at the shop of the merchant on the side of the road to be able to get back quickly. Because it was possible the enemy heroes were trying to destroy one of their towers on another road while they were on the bottom road. They passed the ruins of first tower from the enemies and ventured on. The Shadow Fiend started scouting again but it seemed no one was near. They got the tower down pretty quickly, the Lord of Avernus always being at the front and the Pugna at the back with Huskar.

Unease settled over Huskar with the continued absence of the enemy heroes. That could only mean that they were currently going for their town. And the Phantom Assassin was thinking the same. "I will port into town. Two should stay here and destroy as much as they can and two should come with me." With that she ported out. Huskar followed her without hesitation because by no means would he let her alone. The Pugna and the Lord of Avernus exchanged a quick glance after which the skeleton ported as well.

They arrived all three at the two towers in front of the heart and, like they had suspected, the enemy heroes were currently destroying their barracks just behind third tower, which had already fallen earlier. At their arrival they looked up and the man on the flying device and the nature man backed away a little.

Without warning the Phantom Assassin hurled her dagger at the rhino, hitting the beast fully in the chest. She immediately followed her weapon, activating her magic immunity and attacking the rhino with precise and fast hits. The Pugna stayed where he was but began casting one spell after the other, nearly all leaving a feint green glow over the battle. From where he was standing he didn't have to be afraid of the druid attacking him from the back and he could, maybe for the first time, fully concentrate on what was going on in front of him. And the difference was apparent in the results.

Even before Huskar could charge in, the rhino was injured so badly that he retreated, trying to get away from the Assassin. But the woman was merciless in her pursuit of a victim and while she followed the rhino, Huskar decided to cover her back by going for the golem and the gargoyle. He jumped at the golem, who had been about to follow the Assassin, but switched his focus onto him now. The gargoyle seemed undecided for a second but went for Huskar as well. Together those two did a lot of damage and Huskar wasn't sure, even with the help from the Pugna and his Armlet, if he was strong enough. When the falling bombs started around them, he immediately turned away and tried to get out of the circle that marked the place where the bombs would hit.

It was close and Huskar retreated into the safe zone to regenerate before going into battle again. He didn't really want to leave the other two alone there but he was of no use in the state he was in. Fully healed he could charge in again and so he waited impatiently for the power of the safe zone to heal him.

Just when he rounded the heart he saw Mortred, heavily injured, being followed by three enemy heroes. She must have waited just for this opportunity because she directly jumped at his side, away from the enemies. Huskar snarled at them and lowered his body to leap at the nearest one, the golem. The golem, the gargoyle and the druid were already injured and Huskar was optimistic to get at least one of them and survive long enough for the Assassin to kill the remaining two. He activated the Armlet of Mordiggian while he was in the air and hit the back of the already retreating golem. He turned towards Huskar, though, and the others, now joined by the man on the flying device, started to attack him as well. They even had still enough mana to cast a few of their spells. But they had all forgotten about the Pugna, who appeared behind Huskar, doing some spells as well and then, because Huskar had turned away from the enemy heroes, he used this item, that could shove someone forward on him to get him out of immediate danger.

Huskar was confused for a second because he definitely hadn't expected to be plucked out of the fight like that, but it must have saved his life.

A dagger flew past him and killed the golem, the blade buried somewhere around the place where a human would have his heart. He should have expected the Phantom Assassin to appear again and should have backed away when he still had the chance to survive. Now the odds were even again, the three of them facing three enemy heroes and since they had the Assassin with them and the enemies were injured, Huskar didn't doubt that they would kill all three. And though he was injured as well, he started to attack them again while Mortred ran past him in a dark blur. It didn't take long, but in the end the nature man was able to get away. The Pugna didn't have any more of this dust to make him visible when he used his invisibility. And since he could teleport away, they didn't search for him. Instead they saved their last building at the entrance of the town and killed the enemy soldiers.

When they started to follow the road in the direction of the enemy town, the Phantom Assassin eyed him up. "You should regenerate fully before we go up there. You look a little… ruffled."

Maybe she was right, but this could well be their last offensive. He would definitely be in the enemy town when their heart fell. He could get back a little of his health by attacking the enemy soldiers, since he had life steal from his Helm of Dominator.

"It's okay, let's keep going."


	13. Chapter 12

The Assassin didn't go, at least not very fast. While the Pugna followed their soldiers, she lingered behind.

"Huskar." She sounded unsure, as if she didn't quite know what to say. Huskar frowned because that really wasn't like her at all. She cleared her throat and he stepped in front of her, blocking her way to get her full attention and so she had to look at him.

She was tense but when he smiled at her, she seemed to relax a little. It should have been strange because he was a troll after all and a smile on his face didn't really look like a smile, more like a snarl. But she seemed to be okay with that and, unlike others he had encountered over the years, she was even able to distinguish his smile from his snarl.

"Huskar, what will you do after this war? When we have won, where will you go?"

Huskar thought about that for a moment. "I'm not sure. Maybe I will participate in another town war." He shrugged lightly. "It's not as if I have something to do or somewhere I have to go."

"Another town war?" A small frown appeared on her beautiful face.

"Yeah, I think so. What will you do?" And just then he realized that she might want to spend more time with him, that being the reason for her question.

Her face went expressionless, her body rigid. "I have a few jobs to do. I don't have time for this playing around." And then she suddenly walked past him, continuing on her way to the enemy town without looking at him again.

Something had just gone wrong, Huskar thought, but he wasn't able to put his finger on it. Had he said something wrong? He wasn't sure what, but obviously she wasn't happy with his answer. So he followed her and when she didn't stop at his calling her, he grabbed her arm and spun her around.

He really expected some kind of attack as reaction to that (who was stupid enough to _grab_ an assassin) but she just looked at him with her blank face.

"I…" Huskar was searching for words since he didn't know what had upset her. In the end he settled for "I'm sorry." No harm in apologizing for whatever she thought he had done. "I… If you don't want me to do another town war, I won't go. It's not as if they are such a great activity. It's just a way to spend one's time." He hesitated but then he continued. "Do you want me to go with you?"

Mortred took a deep breath and for a second Huskar thought he saw pain in her stunning green eyes. But then they were as blank as always and he wasn't so sure anymore.

"You can't stay with me. I'm an assassin. What do you think my job is? I cannot take a troll with me on my missions. Do your town wars, it doesn't concern me and I don't care." And if she hadn't hesitantly asked him what he would do after this war a minute ago, he might have believed her. As it was, he was sure that she indeed cared about his plans. Even if, like she had said, it was impossible for him to stay with her while she was doing her jobs. But that didn't mean he couldn't spend time with her before and after those jobs. _He_ didn't have a job to do, he just was, so he could freely choose where to go and what to do. He had a small place to stay in the vicinity of a desert. There he went to seek solitude and freedom, somewhere he could forget some of his past and enjoy the present without someone strolling around and annoying him.

Still holding her arm, Huskar leaned forward, his voice low and steady. "Stop disregarding our relationship. We get along very well and if you want to spend more time with me after this war, I'm sure we can find a solution without me traipsing behind you while you are on a mission. But pushing me away now won't accomplish anything and will only make us feel miserable." He searched her face for a sign of her feelings to be able to judge her answer. "Do you want to get together after the war?" Sure enough, her eyes flickered, just a little, but her expression remained calm and neutral and she didn't answer. It seemed he had to push her more and so he decided to do just that. He leaned even closer, dropping his spear and taking her other arm as well. He growled low in his throat, the sound vibrating through his body and he felt the tiniest of shudders run through her body, though her face betrayed nothing.

Slowly Huskar pushed her backward, away from the road, his gaze never leaving her eyes to be able to catch every flicker of emotion. She didn't resist when he kept urging her backward, into the shadows of the woods until her back hit a tree. They wouldn't be visible here from the road, though Huskar's spear was lying there. Keeping his grip with one hand, he raised the other to Mortred's head and took her helmet, letting the metal fall onto the ground as soon as he had it removed from her head. She kept motionless, only her eyes flickering again with something like curiosity and anticipation. She looked more vulnerable without this piece of armour, more like a woman then a warrior or assassin. But still proud, or even haughty. He didn't linger, though the urge to touch her was strong, to feel her soft skin, to trace the line of her finely arched brows or to rub against her bottom lip with his thumb. Not yet, he thought. Not now.

Next, he took his own helmet, made of bones, and let it fall beside hers. He waited a second, enough time for her to move away from him because he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold her like that if she didn't want him to.

When she didn't move and just kept looking at him, waiting for his next move, he moved. He laid his palm against her cheek while his other hand wandered up her arm and, when he met her shoulder armour, down her side, brushing the side of her breast and then resting on her hip. It brought the first reaction from Mortred. She jerked a little, her lips parted and Huskar couldn't stay focused on her eyes any longer. His gaze dropped to her mouth, begging to be kissed. He closed the remaining gap between them, their bodies connecting, his mostly bare skin brushing against her clothes. They were only made of light fabric and he could feel the lithe but muscled body underneath, the curve of her hip under his hand and her firm breasts against his chest.

Huskar growled again, because damn did she feel _good_! And this time he felt her shudder in response to it with his whole body. He tilted her head only a little to the side, to have better access, and then he lowered his moth onto hers. And he was sure that she met him halfway, leaning into him, wanting this kiss as much as he did.

She sighed softly when their lips met, all remaining tension leaving her body as she literally melted against him, her arms going around his body while she tried to get closer to him, snuggling into him. She wasn't much smaller then he and their bodies fit together perfectly.

Huskar had wanted to take it slow, to kiss her only lightly but the way she responded made that nearly impossible. Her lips were soft under his and her scent wafted around him, leather and woman all mixed together. His hand moved from her hip to her bottom, grabbing the firm flesh of one of her buttocks and squeezing. In answer she parted her lips against his and when Huskar not followed her invitation immediately, she fisted one of her hands in his hair, keeping him locked in place, and took the lead. The invitation changed into a demand, her tongue tracing his lower lip and when he still didn't respond the way she wanted, she bit him in his lower lip, hard, while she dug her finger nails in the skin on his back, surely leaving marks there.

That, in addition to all the other sensations, was too much to resist and he caved in, his tongue entering her mouth, brushing against her tongue. Here he lost all track of time, forgetting his surroundings, his focus totally and solely on the woman in his arms. Her body, her scent, her hands on his skin and the soft sounds she made in the back of her throat in response to him, it all drove him nearly crazy. He must be the luckiest man in the world that she would allow him to touch her like that.

A tiny earthquake made them part, both panting, their bodies still locked together. Huskar looked at the Assassin, her lips slightly swollen from the kissing, her cheeks flushed and her eyes bright and shining. He was stunned by her beauty, his mind unable to focus properly on the reason why they had stopped kissing. He blinked a few times and slowly he became aware of his surroundings again.

They were standing in a forest, behind them the road between the two towns, one of them being the fraction they should fight for, the other the enemy. Even if they were not in the open, the enemy heroes could have found them any time. Reluctantly he took a step back though he didn't release Mortred, yet. He only wanted to get a little distance between them to be able to think clearly again.

Suddenly he remembered why they had stopped kissing. There had been an earthquake. And an earthquake in this town war could only mean one thing: the heart of one of the towns had fallen.

Huskar looked at Mortred and she must have come to the exactly same conclusion. Now they only had to check which heart had fallen. If they had won, even though he and the Assassin hadn't participated in the final fight, or if they had lost because of their nonattendance.

But since it was over one way or the other, anyway, they weren't in a hurry now and Huskar took his time to nuzzle a kiss at Mortred's neck, right under her ear, making her shiver again. Grinning, he stepped back, the hand at the back of his head that had urged him closer now trying to prevent him from going. But they had to.

Putting on their helmets and collecting their weapons they headed, kind of optimistic, in the direction of the enemy town. And sure enough, inside of the town a few soldiers were still lingering around, but no hero was to be seen. Where the heart of the town should have been a hole was in the earth, the edges ragged and some loose stones lying around. The majority of the heart had to be in that hole.

They had won and they had both not been present at the moment of their victory. "Damn, I really wanted to be here to see the heart fall. But on second thought, I like what I got instead even better." Huskar turned towards Mortred, who was smiling at him, her brows arched. And acting on impulse he added: "Come with me. I have a place of my own where we can live. Maybe it will be nice together."

Her face turned serious now but she was clearly thinking about it. "And what about my jobs? I am part of the guild of assassins, I can't just stop being one."

"Of course you can't. I will be honest: I don't like that you are an assassin and I will definitely worry about you when you are gone, but it is a part of who you are, so I will accept it like everything else about you. I'm a warrior and I wouldn't want to stop being one, too. You can do your job from my place, and you can take my Hearth Stone with you. It is homed in on my place so you can be back after you have finished your job within seconds."

"That… I don't know. I'm not sure that is a good idea."

"It is not as if you would commit yourself to anything for the rest of your life. I would only ask of you to try it. Maybe we won't get along with each other for more than two days anyway. But it won't do any harm to try, will it?"

When she still didn't answer he stepped closer, fully intending to continue what they had begun in the woods. Without an enemy they now had all the time in the world and maybe her indecision would vanish after a few more kisses, just like her absolute refusal to even try had vanished.

Mortred raised her gaze when their bodies were nearly touching, her eyes flickering to his and then she laughed. The tension that had already gathered in her body again instantly left, her eyes gleaming with delight. "You want to seduce me into staying with you?" She placed her hand on his chest, still smiling. "You are welcome to try. But I would suggest not doing it here. How about you show me your place first? I'm sure it will be much easier for me to decide when we are there. Maybe with a bed in reach."

A grin spread across Huskar's face and the tension left him as well. That was definitely a start. He was sure from there on they would find a solution that would suit them both. But first he would follow her wish. They left the world of the two towns, appearing side by side on a platform surrounded by grassy steppes. Huskar took Mortred's hand and activated the Hearth Stone, that had been absolutely useless in the town war but would bring them to his place now in a few seconds. They were smiling at each other when they vanished from the platform and still when they appeared next to a small cottage in a small, concealed valley.

Huskar let his gaze sweep over his surroundings shortly in search of danger, but nothing had changed since he had left, nobody and nothing had been here. So he opened the door and led the Phantom Assassin with the name, one of the most feared creatures in the world, inside of his home.

They didn't discuss any plans for their future anymore on that day. Or on the following. But in the end they were able to come to a conclusion that suited them both and made them both happy. This conclusion indeed included them staying at Huskar's place, making it _their_ place, and maybe seducing hadn't been the smallest part in convincing Mortred to stay.

But who cared about that when it had worked?


	14. Hunting

"Hey honey-bunny! Want to go hunting with me?" Huskar, the Sacred Warrior, had found out during the last weeks that Mortred hated it when he gave her silly pet-names. And sure enough, the Phantom Assassin glared at him over one of the daggers she was currently sharpening.

Huskar grinned. He loved to irritate her.

Mortred nodded and sheathed her dagger, the glare not leaving her face until she was standing in front of the Warrior. "Be careful how far you go, troll." Then she stalked past him.

His grin didn't vanish as he followed. As if he was scared that easily. Huskar was absolutely sure that she'd never really hurt him. So they were all empty threats. At least mostly and nothing he was concerned about.

This was the first time they went hunting together and the Sacred Warrior was curious how it would be with the Assassin by his side.

They ran in one direction until they found some tracks. They slowed down as they followed them until they saw a creature in the distance. It was a scorpion, a rather huge one, and Huskar looked forward to a challenging fight. There would be a lot of blood involved, hopefully more of the creatures than his own.

"Okay, how about we separate, I go right, you left and we attack from both sides? I'll jump on its back and try to get my spear through its shield. You can aim for its eyes, but be careful, its teeth are poisonous, as is its tail."

Mortred looked at him, her face expressionless. "That's how you hunt usually?"

"Yes, of course. How do you hunt?"

The Phantom Assassin walked towards the creature until it heard her and turned around. Before it could either attack or flee, she threw a dagger, sinking the blade into one of the scorpion's eyes with unerring accuracy.

It was dead immediately.

Huskar stared at the creature, than at Mortred. "Oh come on! What was that?"

"I killed it. Wasn't that what we wanted?"

"I wanted a fight!" He couldn't believe it. She had just, with one hit, killed the scorpion. And with it she had robbed him of all the fun hunting held!

"I know. Stop calling me names and I'll hunt with you the way you want to." Huskar's mouth dropped open. She had done it on purpose!

Mortred smiled a teeny tiny bit, just enough to let him know that she was satisfied with the situation. Then she turned away and walked over to the dead scorpion to retrieve her dagger. Huskar wasn't sure if he should be angry or amused.

"What's wrong? You going to help me carry the thing back?"

He opted for amused. Smiling, he walked over to the Assassin. He pulled her close and kissed her, releasing her before she could react to it. "I don't think I'll stop calling you honey-bunny. Or sugar pie. Or whatever I can think of. But I'll definitely be prepared for your _answer_ the next time." He grinned at her, showing his teeth.

Mortred grinned right back, her eyes gleaming. "I'm looking forward to it."


	15. Romantic

Huskar was sitting in one of the chairs, reading. He really tried to concentrate on the book in his hands instead of listening for any sound that might indicate that Mortred was back. It had only gotten marginally easier to stay at home and wait while the Phantom Assassin was doing one of her jobs. She would tell him where she went and how long she thought it might take for her to complete whatever she had to do. And Huskar was left with nothing to do but wait and hope that his girlfriend would come back in one piece.

The first time after they had moved together, he had been pacing the house for hours, worried that something might go wrong. It didn't help that she was the best and most deadly of all the phantom assassins. He was worried nonetheless.

He tried not to show it when they were together because he was sure she wouldn't like it. She would probably think that he thought she wasn't able to do those jobs or that she wasn't able to defend herself. Huskar knew that she was more than able to do both but he couldn't help it. She was his girlfriend and she went out to kill other creatures on a regular basis.

The killing didn't disturb him, he was a troll warrior after all, but something unexpected could happen, something even the best of all phantom assassins couldn't survive.

But since she was _the_ Phantom Assassin he had to learn to deal with it. He would never ask her to quit doing those jobs. It was a part of her and he wouldn't want her to change, especially not for him. He thought that she was doing fewer jobs than before, so he was grateful for that much.

With a sigh he closed the book and put it on the table next to his chair. He couldn't even remember what the book was about so he could as well stop reading. Looking through the room he decided to sharpen his weapons. It was the most calming activity he could think of and so he stood up and fetched his knifes, daggers, spears and what else had a blade.

He could hunt but he wanted to be at home when Mortred came back. And they could as well hunt together. It wasn't as lonely with her by his side and though he had liked the solitude his life had offered him, he was more than happy now when the woman was with him.

Finally he heard what he had been waiting for: the soft sound of someone porting into the room. Since there was only one person on this earth who was able to port here, he knew that Mortred was home. He tried to remain cool, only looking up when she made a step and therefore a real sound. No one would be able to hear someone porting, except they were listening and waiting for it.

He smiled at her, quickly taking her in, looking for any wounds, but the blood on her body didn't seem to be hers. "Hey, you are back. How was your job?" His voice was steady and he was glad that he could fake nonchalance that well.

The Phantom Assassin blew out a long breath and flopped down on the floor next to Huskar. "More exhausting than I expected." She leaned over and kissed him before lying down and staring at the ceiling. "My target was somehow expecting me and I actually had to fight. Good riddance he still underestimated me. Maybe he would have stood a chance had he gotten twice as many soldiers as backup. As it was, it was some hack and slay before I was able to kill him. Stupid human male."

The Sacred Warrior shrugged. "I'm glad they always underestimate you."

Looking at him, she smiled. She raised one hand and stroked over his shoulder. "I know. I'm glad, too, I just don't understand it. There are enough stories about me, if they believed them, they could easily prepare a trap from which I wouldn't be able to escape or fight my way out. But they always think those tales are exaggerated. Serves them right, then." She dropped her hand and closed her eyes, visibly relaxing next to Huskar.

He liked that she let her guard down completely when she was with him. It had taken some time but by now she trusted him wholeheartedly. She smiled again, her eyes still closed. "I know that you are watching me. What's the matter?"

"You are completely covered with blood and it is dripping on the floor." He wouldn't tell her how happy he was to have her back, to see her unharmed. How relieved he was. He thought that it would be too much personal feelings for her liking. Yes, they lived together and yes, they spent much time together, were in a relationship, but to talk about feelings, it was still something they didn't do. An assassin and a warrior.

Sitting up until she was leaning on her elbows, she looked at her body, frowning a little. She was dripping blood all over the place. Not that it was the first time. "Damn," she muttered. She knew that she had to clean the floor. That was their rule: the one who spread things like blood, gore, mud, water (porting in from a place where it was raining cats and dogs) or things like that in the house had to wipe it away.

"I'll take a quick bath." She leaned over and kissed him again, this time lingering a little longer. Her lips were warm and soft and she smelled like a massacre. For a moment Huskar thought about persuading her to have sex with him right now (probably wouldn't take much persuading) but then he reconsidered. It would be nicer later, when she was clean and they had the bed underneath them.

The way the Phantom Assassin was grinning when they separated she knew what his thoughts had been. "Go take your bath." He bared his teeth at her, an action that made others quake in fear frequently, but Mortred only laughed before leaving the room.

The Sacred Warrior smiled to himself while he turned to the weapon in his lap again. At the beginning of their relationship they had often fucked almost frantically, the Warrior sometimes feeling as if he had to take as much as he could in as little time as possible because he couldn't be sure how long the Assassin would stay with him. Over the weeks, when Mortred hadn't made any hints at leaving, had even settled more in with him, he had relaxed.

Sometimes, when she came home wounded or when a job had taken her longer than she had anticipated, he still had this urge to take her immediately, just to reassure himself that she was there, that she was okay, that she hadn't left. Sometimes she seemed to mirror these feelings, and those times their sex was still this wild, frantic, rutting.

Most times, though, Huskar wanted to savour it now. He wanted to be in a comfortable place, wanted to take his time, wanted to enjoy being with her.

After finishing with the blade he had currently been working on, he put everything else away, careful not to step into the puddles of blood. Then he began to make something to eat while Mortred cleaned first her clothes and weapons and then the floor. When she was finished, the Warrior had prepared a collection of meat and vegetables that came from the desert they lived in.

Mortred, now only wearing pants and a tight top, took a plate and sat down at the table. Her hair was still wet and she had left it loose to dry in the air.

"Do you want to do something later?" Huskar took the chair across from her.

"Dou you have something in mind?"

"Well, it is midsummer and there are fireworks all over the world. We could go to one of those places and watch for a while."

The Phantom Assassin looked at him and blinked. "That's rather romantic."

"So?"

She blinked a few more times. Then she smiled. "I wouldn't have guessed that you are a romantic." Her tone was slightly mocking.

Huskar leaned closer. "If you call someone who goes to a firework with his girlfriend once a year a romantic, what do you call someone who, I don't know, brings flowers, puts candles all over the place for a shared bath, turns slow music on for a quiet dinner with wine and such things?"

"Oh that's easy, that would be an idiot."

He laughed. Taking some food, he shook his head. "Okay, I'm a romantic then. I don't really mind. You didn't say if you wanted to go, though."

"Yeah, it won't be too bad. As long as it's the only romantic thing you want to do this year I'll do it for you." But she was smiling at him as she said that.


	16. Under the Weather

Mortred the Phantom Assassin came back from one of her jobs to the cabin she and her boyfriend (it still sounded strange to say that, even after the two years they were now living together) Huskar were sharing.

"Hey gorgeous!" she called out. When she didn't get an answer she frowned. He always was at home when she was on a job and he always waited for her return. He didn't say it but she knew that he was worried. So it was extremely odd that he not only wasn't in the living room but didn't even answer.

She walked through the cabin, now in full battle mode and carefully listening to any strange sounds. She was an assassin and her mind sprang to the worst of conclusions right away, which was that someone had intruded in their home and had hurt her man.

There was no sound and she didn't have the sense of someone else being in the house.

She entered the bedroom. Huskar was lying on the bed. His eyes were closed but he was breathing too heavy to be asleep. It looked more as if he was in pain.

Putting her weapon away, Mortred approached the bed and kneeled down beside it. "Huskar? What is wrong?"

The troll growled. "Go away. I want to be alone."

"Huskar?" Now the Assassin grew uneasy. Something was wrong here. She touched the man on the temple and was shocked. "You are burning hot! What happened?"

Still growling. "Fever. Caught some flu. Will be gone in a few days. "

Mortred was relieved. Flu wasn't dangerous. She had feared for a moment he might have been poisoned or something. "If you only have the flu, why are you lying in bed like that?" She stood up and looked down at the troll. She had never been ill but had heard that it wasn't so bad. He opened one eye but said nothing. "Oh come on, don't be such a ninny." And she left the room to get herself something to eat.

Huskar sighed, but he stood up. He mumbled something but joined her in the kitchen. His movements were slower than usual and he didn't talk, but otherwise he seemed to be fine. He made a soup out of some vegetables, which wasn't something he would normally eat and then he sank on their couch, soup in one hand. Afterwards he scuffled back into bed.

Well, Mortred thought, he was male. They were told to suffer more when they were ill than females did. So she would be a little considerate and not call him a ninny again, though she found it extreme that he was in bed all the time only because he was ill.

The next few days passed like that. Mortred got bored with the troll always lying in bed and coaxed him out a few more times. She even got him to hunt one of the giant birds around their home with her so they had fresh meat. His reactions were slower as usual but she would have been strong enough to kill the beast without his help anyway. She just wanted company.

On the fifth day after her last job, when Mortred woke up, her head hurt like hell. She felt hot, as if her whole body was on fire. She opened her eyes but the morning light was piercing and she closed them immediately. She could hear Huskar already moving through the cabin but she couldn't make herself get out of bed. Every movement hurt and she tried to lie as still as possible and take only shallow breathes.

The troll entered the room. "Mortred?" The Assassin felt a hand on her forehead. "Well, it seems I have infected you. You have a fever."

"This isn't the flu," Mortred rasped. "I feel like I'll die. My head is being split in half from the inside and I can't move an inch without pain. And I'm on fire." She felt so weak she couldn't raise her voice above a whisper.

Huskar had the nerve to laugh. "That sounds like the flu to me."

"It can't be, I was told the flu isn't so bad. Did you feel like that, too?"

"My poor little assassin. You are ill for the first time and it is so much worse than you imagined. But yes, I felt like that, too. Why do you think I lay in bed all the time?"

"I am so sorry for dragging you out." And she was. She couldn't image how he had been able to get up much less go hunting with her. "Huskar, it hurts."

"Don't worry freckles, I'll care for you." He kissed her on the temple and left. Mortred didn't know how long he was gone, her sense of time was lost in the pain she felt. She thought she had drifted off a few times but wasn't so sure about that, either.

She woke when Huskar stroked through her hair softly. "I made you something to drink, against the fever and the pain." With his help, she raised her head, just enough to be able to drink. She groaned from the pain of it, but Huskar coaxed her gently to drink the whole cup. Mortred sank back into the pillows. How could something simple as drinking be so exhausting? But whatever the troll had given her, it helped, at least a little. The pain was still immense but the fever had gone down a little and she could at least sleep.

Huskar was wonderful during her illness. He made her cold cloths for her forehead when she was too hot, gave her tea against the pain and made her the soup he had made for himself when he had been ill so she could eat something. She was completely helpless. "How have you been able to get up? I can't move my arms without hurting all over." Even speaking hurt.

"Maybe I'm tougher than you." She could hear the smile in his voice. He kissed her gently on the forehead. "Don't worry, in a few days you will be fit again."

Of course he was right. Two days later, two more days of endless pain, she woke up and felt, if not completely healthy, then at least fit enough to get up without help. She padded into the living room. Huskar was sitting on the floor, cleaning his weapons, and looked up when she entered. He smiled. "Hey, you are up. Feeling better this morning?"

Mortred nodded. "Do you have breakfast?" Her voice was still a little raspy.

"Of course. I would have checked on you in a few minutes and then I would have brought it. Want to eat at a table for a change?" The Templar Assassin stared at him. She had been so unfeeling regarding his illness and he had been so sweet to her nonetheless. He was wonderful. And not for the first time she thought that, though she would always win against him in a fight one on one, he was stronger than her regarding many other things.

Walking over to him, she knelt in front of him. She took the weapon from his hands and placed it next to him on the floor. Framing his face with her hands, she looked into his eyes. He was confused by her actions, was unsure about what she would do.

Mortred smiled. "I love you, with all my heart."

Huskar grinned. "And you needed only five days of flu to figure that out. I would have tried to infect you on purpose much sooner if I had known that it would be so easy to make you say those words." He was still grinning and leaned closer now. "I love you, too. And now go, eat something while I make a bath ready for you." His kiss was sweet and affectionate and Mortred was very happy that she had taken the opportunity to be with Huskar, though she had never expected that it would work out so well.


	17. Anniversary

The Phantom Assassin was strangely absent-minded this morning. And somehow skittish. After she had almost but a dagger through Huskar's stomach when he had approached her from behind to hug her and get a kiss, he kept his distance. Or was at least loud enough that she couldn't _not_ notice him when he came near her.

It wasn't that he was afraid she'd accidentally kill him, he wasn't that easy to kill after all, but it would hurt. He had caught one or the other dagger during their first weeks living together, simply because Mortred wasn't used to sharing a home with someone. She had reacted a few times before her mind could tell her not to throw a dagger at whoever was moving behind her. And since she never missed her target, Huskar knew how it felt to pluck one of her weapons out of his body.

It had been some time, though, since that had happened the last time and Huskar wondered what made her this nervous today. She hadn't said anything about a new job or something. Maybe she hadn't slept well? Bad dream or anything? Well, he wouldn't ask her, if that was the case she'd probably hurt him just for asking and implying to her that something was wrong today.

It got worse throughout the day. Huskar sat in the living room and was scanning through a book, looking for some information about a troll ritual. From the corner of his eyes he could see Mortred running through the house. Kitchen, some rummaging around, then bedroom, a dull thud from whatever, bathroom, the sound of running water, the living room, sitting on the floor for a second and examining one of her weapons, up again and outside. Then back in, kitchen.

After maybe an hour of that, the Sacred Warrior sighed and put his book down. Mortred had just entered the living room again and was staring out of the window, fidgeting with a dagger in her hand. This was going nowhere and, bracing for all possible reactions from the Assassin, he decided to ask her.

"Sugarpie, what's wrong?" He knew that she hated when he gave her pet names but this time she barely reacted to it at all. And that was the moment when Huskar realized something was definitely wrong. He sat up straighter in the armchair. "Mortred? Are you all right?"

"Yes!" She whirled around, looked at the dagger in her hand, frowned as if she had just now noticed that she was holding the weapon and then she _fumbled_ with putting it away. Now Huskar was seriously concerned. What had happened to make the Phantom Assassin behave like this? He had never _ever_ seen her not being able to put her weapons away in a fluent movement that was almost too fast to see.

She looked up and smiled. It looked so very forced and unreal that Huskar frowned at her. "Mortred?"

"Ah damn." The Assassin sighed and raked a hand through her hair, pulling strands from her ponytail, which made her look as ruffled as she was behaving. When the troll wanted to get up, she pointed a finger at him. "Don't get up. Wait there!"

She was gone and back in an instant, now appearing even more nervous than before. What the fuck was wrong with her?

Huskar watched as Mortred pulled herself together, straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath, and stilled her hands by her sides. Her gaze was intense as she walked forward now, fixed on Huskar who was still sitting in the arm chair. In front of him, she stopped. And then she dropped to her knees. She swallowed and the nervousness was visible in the depths of her pale eyes.

For a moment, they sat like that, staring at each other, the Sacred Warrior still wondering what was wrong. Then Mortred stretched her arm out towards him, her hand closed around something. Another moment of nothing before she slowly opened her fist to reveal what was lying in her palm.

"A ring?" Huskar had to admit it was an amazing ring, emitting power in addition to looking fantastic, but why was she giving it to him? _Was_ she giving it to him?

"Happy anniversary." The nervousness was still there as the Warrior raised his gaze from the ring to the Assassin's face and he thought it might have gotten even worse. Her hand was shaking a little as she kept it outstretched. The ring couldn't be that heavy. "You give me the ring as a gift? For our anniversary?" The question he should've probably asked, was: 'you know that today is our anniversary?'. She had in no way indicated that she had remembered that this day was their anniversary over the last four years. Huskar had assumed she didn't care about this day and had ignored it. It was just some date after all.

But now, in their fifth year, she was giving him a present? A ring? It wasn't even something light like flowers or a new shirt, it was something with meaning behind it. And with the promise of commitment. Not that they hadn't committed to each other, it was just that they had never talked about a future together. About staying together forever or stuff like that.

Huskar would have breached the topic sometime, but in truth he had been afraid to scare Mortred away with it. So he had been content with every day she was with him and with every time she promised to come back after a job.

But this? Now?

The Phantom Assassin nodded shortly. "I… yes. A gift. For our anniversary." She swallowed visibly, opened her mouth to say something more, then abruptly shut it again.

She was still nervous. Why? Did she think he would reject the ring? That he would reject a present from her? And one that would bind her more strongly to him?

Never.

A smile slowly crept onto Huskar's face. Then it morphed into a grin. And though his grin was many things but definitely not comforting with the way it showed his teeth, the Assassin relaxed a little. The troll held his hand out. "Put it on?"

The breath she released then spoke of how tense she really had been. And with a tiny smile she grabbed his hand and slipped the ring on his finger. It fit perfectly.

The Sacred Warrior decided that today was a day to show some of his feelings for the proud Phantom Assassin. They were seldom sentimental and seldom talked about things like love or commitment or Huskar's fear he always felt when Mortred was away on a job. But she had been nervous today and that was so unnecessary.

So now Huskar buried the hand with the ring in Mortred's already dishevelled hair and leaned a little closer. "Thank you very much for the present. I didn't expect one but you couldn't have made me happier today. Not because I got something, but because you thought about this day, because you remembered it and because it is important to you. Because _I'm_ important to you. I love you with all my heart and will do so for the rest of my life. And since I'm a powerful troll warrior, the rest of my life will be quite long." He brushed his thumb over her freckled cheek. "Don't be nervous. Did you think I would reject the present, or you?"

That made Mortred let out a short huff. She shook her head as best she could with Huskar holding her head. "No, I didn't expect that. I know how much you love me. And I know how you always wait for me when I'm away. It is more the fact that I never show my feelings, that I'm not allowed to _have_ any feelings. And it makes me nervous to go against this. It is unfamiliar. And to give you a ring…. It is a gesture so full of feelings that it almost makes me sick." As Huskar raised his brows at this statement Mortred smiled. "Not because I feel all this for you, silly. Just because I feel at all. And you should give me credit for trying to get used to it all and to love you even though I'm not allowed to feel anything at all for you." A tiny shrug. "It just takes some time I guess."

"Time is something we have enough of. And don't beat yourself up over it, I don't need you to be all touchy-feely all the time."

Mortred rolled her eyes. "As if I'd beat myself up over it, don't get overdramatic. And just so you know, I know what giving a ring as a present in a relationship means and I do mean everything it does with it. So… do you have a present for me, too?" Her smiled was sweet and Huskar grinned. She had given him a ring. A ring! She said she wanted to stay with him forever with it.

He had something for her, too, but she would hate it. He stood up and pulled her with him. Then he took her hand, leading her outside and around the house to a small side cabin where the troll repaired his weapons or built new armour or stuff. There, in a chest where he kept all his working material, at the bottom underneath all the other things, he had stowed her present away.

He had to rummage a little to get it out. When he turned around again to face Mortred, he was grinning madly. He held the present up to her. "I made this for you, because you love my helmet so much and because we can go everywhere in partner look now! Isn't that awesome!?" (She had never said she loved his helmet, she just liked to use it to grab him and hold him still, and she would surely not want to do something stupid as walk around in partner look with her boyfriend. She, the Phantom Assassin…)

The helmet he held in his hands was a slightly smaller twin of his, consisting only of bones. He had taken a skull from an animal (not easy to find one here that was small enough to fit the Assassin) and added a few pieces here and there to make a helmet that could actually protect instead of only look fearsome. It had two huge tusks protruding to the front, just like Huskar's helmet had. It was definitely not something the Phantom Assassin would wear but the troll had had so much fun making it that he didn't really care. Maybe he could get her to wear it once during one of the town wars they sometimes participated in together.

But the way she now stared at the thing she'd probably not. But that was okay.

Her eyes darted up to meet his, then back down to the helmet. "You made this by yourself?" She touched it, ran her hand over the surface. "It is like yours." She touched the tusks and frowned. "I… I can't wear it during my missions, you know that, don't you."

His grin lost some of its madness. "I know. Doesn't matter." He kept holding the helmet in his hands as Mortred stared at it. Then she took it and put it on. And Huskar growled. Because, fuck, she looked hot with it and he hadn't expected her to wear it.

Now Mortred was grinning. "Oh, you like me wearing it?" She took a few steps backwards, reaching behind her with one hand to find the door. "If you can catch me you can fuck me. While I wear the helmet." In a blur of movement she was out of the door.

 _Madness_ , Huskar thought as he jumped after Mortred, close on her heels. He was still grinning.


	18. Two Blades

Huskar, the Sacred Warrior, was bored out of his mind. Mortred hadn't moved for over an hour, was sitting on one of their arm chairs, reading. He didn't even know what the book was about, not because he hadn't asked but because it was such a strange topic that he hadn't bothered to understand it, much less tried to remember it.

The Phantom Assassin had been gone for several days and Huskar had wanted to spend time with her. Not sit around and do nothing. With a sigh he got up. He could at least do something useful instead of watching Mortred read. Not that that wasn't nice. She had bathed and her hair was still damp. She had pulled it back into a ponytail, the tips touching her shoulders and back. She wore tight black pants and a black shirt, her legs tucked under her body and the book resting on her thighs. She looked relaxed and cute and Huskar loved that look about her. Not that he didn't like her when she was fierce, but this, when the harshness was gone from her features and her stance, was seldom enough that he cherished every moment he got her like that.

Well, she hadn't wanted to be cherished, had said something about something she had to research before she had grabbed one of several book she had brought.

Huskar bared his teeth (thankful that Mortred didn't look up at that moment) and went to the cabin he kept working on leather armour and stuff. He used what he got from the creatures he hunted: bones, teeth, leather, feathers and so on. He liked to do handicrafts with the things, sometimes for himself, sometimes for others, sometimes just to be occupied.

He had some pieces of armour almost finished and he had to test them in action. Move around with them, do some fighting, see how they felt on his body. So he put them on, tying them roughly together with some string where he hadn't finished them, yet. They were heavy but it might still be okay. He moved around, running and jumping, drawing his weapon and making some fighting moves. He noted a few places where he had to improve the armour, make a few adjustments.

And then he went on the hunt. The best way to test armour and weapons, in Huskar's opinion, was in an actual fight. Sometimes he did so with Mortred, when he could motivate her to spar with him. He wouldn't even ask today. So he left the house behind him and ran through the desert in search for a worthy opponent. He'd probably not find one but maybe there was one that wouldn't be dead after only one well-directed hit. One who'd actually fight back. Because how should one test the worth of armour if one didn't get hit?

So Huskar, the Sacred Warrior, hunted.

"Oh, you made a picnic? That's sweet!"

Huskar looked up at Mortred, who'd appeared behind him. She was way too silent when she moved and the troll hated that she could still sneak up at him like that. He snorted but then he smiled at her. Because he was rather grateful that she had come out here to him.

As she sat down next to him, she scrunched her nose. "You are filthy. Did you have to bathe in the blood and then roll around in the sand?"

Huskar laughed. It was a rough sound and his open mouth showed lots of sharp teeth. Strangely enough, the Assassin next to him smiled back at him. How she could be not the least afraid of him being a troll and such was beyond his understanding. But he liked her fearlessness. Like a troll. "Are you finished with your book? Did you find what you were looking for?"

Mortred lay down, her hands behind her head, and stared at the sky. "No, but I needed a break."

"I'm glad you found me during your break." He moved his body until he sat facing her.

She turned her head a little and looked at Huskar. "I'll always find you."

He wasn't sure if it was a threat or a promise. He snorted. "Good to know." The troll scratched at a patch of skin, where the blood had already started to dry in the sun.

The Assassin scrunched her nose again at that but didn't comment. Instead, she continued with the topic of her looking for something. "I'm looking for information about a pair of blades. They are no ordinary blades and I had hoped there was something about their magic in one of the books I brought." She stopped talking and closed her eyes, a tiny frown on her face.

Huskar waited. He was sure she wanted to say more and they were in no rush. Annoyed about the blood, he kept scratching.

"I had finished the job and was looking around the room. That's when I saw them. It was as if they were calling for me, enticing me to touch them, to take them. I couldn't help myself, I approached them. They were wonderful, beautiful. Two perfect blades, glowing light blue at the edges. I reached out for them, even though I knew nothing about the magic, and it had to be magic, they possessed." Mortred took a deep breath. Her body was tense and she visibly willed herself to relax. "My fingertips were almost brushing against the metal and I'm sure it wouldn't have ended well for me had I taken them. But in the last second, you saved me." Now she opened her eyes and looked at Huskar. They were pale and clear, her gaze sharp. "I saw your face flashing in front of my eyes and I could hear your voice in my head. I don't remember what you said, but the thought of you woke me out of the trance the two blades had but me into." She leaned up and onto her arms. "These two blades wanted me to take them and I intend to find out why. I'm sure thinking about you saved me from whatever fate the weapons had planned for me." She shook her head. "I stepped back and then I ported out of the room. I just hope it wasn't a trap, especially designed for me. Because then something like that will happen again and I don't know how I can prepare myself for such a situation."

Huskar was shocked about how his girlfriend had been enthralled by some weapons. But at the same time he was pleased that the thought of him had made her snap out of it. "Maybe the weapons used simple magic, then you can indeed prepare. You can use something that makes you immune to magic, armour or a weapon that shields you."

"Can you make me one?"

The Warrior hesitated. He had never crafted enchanted armour. It would take time, maybe a little research beforehand. But since it was Mortred's life that depended on his ability to create something that could protect her from magic… "Yes. I can craft you something that'll make you immune to most kinds of magic. I need some time and I'll have to visit one or two creatures I know, who know how to do stuff like magic immunity. But I'm sure I can do it."

"Perfect." Mortred sat up, her arms resting on her legs, and smiled at the dead creature lying in the sand. "I really don't know how you manage to get that dirty while killing such a tiny beast."

Well, it was Huskar's style of fighting that made him always look as if he had bathed in blood. But it was very effective and it was his preferred style after all. "You want to help me get the thing back to our home? Or eat something here first? I can make a fire and we can roast the best parts right away."

"Let's get it home first. We can roast it there, too." She got up and held a hand out for him. He grabbed it and pulled himself up. He had too much momentum (absolutely accidentally) and staggered forward, his body colliding with the Assassin. Before she could react, he closed his arms around her, hugging her against his filthy form.

"Uh, you disgusting troll, get your hands away from me!" She struggled but when he had her like that, he was indeed stronger. Huskar grinned and held her tighter until she stopped her attempts to get away from him. "Great, now I'm as filthy as you are. Satisfied?"

"You bet I am. Especially because I'll help you get clean again. Now, since it is all lost anyway, you can kiss me."

Mortred sighed. "You won." But Huskar could hear the smile in her voice. She tipped her head back and buried her hands in his hair. "Then, troll, kiss me."

"Mortred." His lips brushed against hers as he said her name. He could feel her smile.

"Huskar."


End file.
